Sambo using religion to divide Nigerians —APC

The All Progressives Congress has accused Vice-President Namadi Sambo and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, of using religion to divide Nigerians. The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Thursday, said Sambo, while addressing PDP supporters in Kaduna, said the APC was pushing a Christian agenda and should be rejected at the polls because its vice-presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), has “5,000 churches.” The APC said, “It must baffle every right-thinking Nigerian what the vice-president stands to gain by his resort to basic instincts. It is more baffling against the background of the fact that it was his party, the PDP, that first labelled our party, the APC, as a Muslim party. “Not even when the APC elected a Christian as its National Chairman, supported by many party officials who are also Christians, did they back off from their incautious claim. It did not occur to them that our party is more religiously diverse than they have sought to portray it to Nigerians.” The party urged voters not to be swayed by those who were using religion as a campaign tool. It said some unscrupulous politicians had already begun distributing leaflets portraying the APC as a religious intolerant party. It said, “They are hoping that by further inflaming passion with the highly emotive issue of religion, they can revive their shrivelling political fortunes. That is why they have devised the latest strategy of pitting Christians against Moslems through the circulation of satanic leaflets. Nigerians should not be taken in by this cheap plot. “We ask Nigerians to disregard anyone peddling religion as a tool for securing votes in any part of the country. Faith is a personal thing to individuals and no responsible government will seek to use religion to divide the people.” Culled From Punch News

CAN got N7bn to campaign for Jonathan –Borno pastor

Fresh facts emerged on Thursday about the allegation by the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, that President Goodluck Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party gave some pastors N6bn to campaign against the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in the 2015 presidential election. A Borno State-based Pastor, Kallamu Dikwa, said the money allegedly given to the pastors by the Presidency was N7bn and not N6bn as alleged by Amaechi, who doubled as the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation. Amaechi had alleged that some unnamed leaders of the PDP paid N6bn to Christian clerics to campaign against the APC. But reacting to the Northern States Christian Elders Forum, who challenged Amaechi to name those pastors involved in the bribery scandal, Dikwa told journalists in Kaduna on Thursday that the said money was channelled through the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria. Dikwa, who is the Executive Director of the Voice of Northern Christian Movement, said CAN got the said money (N7bn) on January 26, 2015 and disbursed N3m each to state Chairmen of the CAN across the country. He was also an Associate Pastor with the E. Y. N. Church (Enklesiyan Yan’uwan A Nijeriya) Farm Centre, Dikwa Road, Maiduguri, Borno State, under Rev. Emmanuel Kwajihe between 2002-2004. But the Presidency and CAN had denied this allegation. While the Presidency said that Dikwa was an agent of the APC, the General Secretary of CAN, Rev. Musa Ayake, maintained that the allegation was total falsehood. However, Dikwa, said the CAN had started threatening Christians in the state (Borno) that they must re-elect President Jonathan in the rescheduled election. He said, “It was N7bn that was given to the CAN leadership by President Goodluck Jonathan. They (CAN) later disbursed N3m each to the state chairmen of the CAN. The money was handed over to the CAN leadership on 26th January, 2014. “This is what I know. One of the CAN officials from Abuja told me that they have collected the money. The corruption in CAN is terrible. They are corrupting the body of Christ because of money. “They are now threatening Christians in Borno State that they will deal with anybody who refused to vote for Jonathan. And the CAN officials are now campaigning that if Buhari emerges President he will islamise Nigeria; and that Prof. Yemi Osinbajo will resign soon after Buhari wins to give way for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to emerge Vice President. “And at the same time, CAN is threatening Christians in Borno if they didn’t vote for Jonathan. And the same CAN continues to blackmail Prof. Yemi Osinbajo that Islamic world has bought Osinbajo with millions of dollars, all this is because of the N7bn bribery that they have received from Jonathan.” But Ayake in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Ilorin on Thursday said, “At no time did CAN collect money from Jonathan to preach against Buhari or to give the impression that Buhari wants to islamise Nigeria.” Ayake added, “I do not think I will lower ourselves, our integrity and our positions to somebody who is fake, who called himself a pastor when he is not; a liar, somebody who does not even know his left from his right. I know the person, if I want to comment, I will be lowering myself and my integrity to such a thing. Please that person is not what he claims to be. “What he said is a lie. It did not happen. It will not happen. “He is a liar. We should not waste our time on him. He is not a pastor. He has never been a pastor. He is just a liar. If I should reply, I would be lowering myself. What he said is between him and his God. Let him know that when this life is over, we are going to stand before God to give an account of what we said or did in this life. Let him continue with his lies, God will catch up with him one day.” Also, the Presidency said that Dikwa was making this allegation because he belonged to the APC. It said that was the reason he would continue to say anything that could advance the interest of his political party. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said this in an interview with one of our correspondents. Abati said, “Is the pastor a member of the APC? He probably belongs to the APC. Since he is a member of the APC, he will echo, modify and amplify whatever Amaechi said. “I think before you do anything, you should establish the political affiliation of that pastor. “He must be a member of the APC. Otherwise, he will face his primary responsibility as a pastor. “I have no doubt that the man is a member of the APC. As a member of the APC, he will say whatever he feels will advance the course of his party.” Culled From Punch News

Pastors taking bribes from politicians risk God’s anger – Adeboye

Pastor E. A. Adeboye The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has warned that pastors collecting bribes from politicians risk the wrath of God. The renowned cleric said this on his official Facebook page on Wednesday while reacting to allegations by the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, that the Peoples Democratic Party had bribed some pastors with N6bn to work against the All Progressives Congress and its presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) However, Adeboye, said, “I read in the newspaper this morning that one of the serving governors in Nigeria said that some pastors in Nigeria collected N6bn from politicians for the purpose of influencing their members to vote a certain candidate in the coming elections. “May I humbly request that if there be any pastor or pastors who collected such money, they should please return such as quickly as possible before the fire of the Almighty consumes you.” Amaechi, had on Tuesday, told his supporters not to be deceived by pastors, whom he said, were campaigning against Buhari because he was a Muslim He had said, “Some pastors collected N6bn and they are circulating document and telling you not to vote for an Hausa man; not to vote for a Muslim; that they want to Islamise Nigeria. Tell them to return our N6bn. “They gave them N6bn; they should return it to the Federal Government coffers. They will tell you that Buhari wants to Islamise Nigeria; tell them we are too educated. “I am a Catholic, but no Catholic priest has told me that story right now in the Catholic Church because, I will ask him how. If any pastor tells you that, tell him to return the money. “Nobody can Islamise Nigeria; they have commercialised Jesus Christ. They should stop commercialising the Christian faith. You know what Jesus Christ did in the temple? He chased them away.”

Politicians Have Corrupted Christian Leaders-Primat Ayodele

Founder and Spiritual leader of Inri Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele has stated that popular Christian leaders, Bishop David Oyedepo, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and Pastor E.A.Adeboye are a disgrace to the church. The prophet who revealed that the recent hobnobbing with politicians by the men of God is a disappointment to the masses. Speaking with Yes Magazine, Primate Ayodele said, “Oyedepo, Oritsejafor and Adeboye have disappointed God. They see the truth but they are not saying it. I will be frank. These frontline pastors; Adeboye, Oyedepo, name them, PFN, CAN have they not disappointed the Nigerian masses now? Jonathan goes to Adeboye, what’s the other man’s name? Politicians have corrupted all church leaders. They are not saying the truth. Adeboye, Oyedepo and other big pastors are not saying the truth. We know that the economy is bad, things are not going right but they should have the courage to face them. For the first time let us be bold enough to tell them “What you are doing is bad”. Tell them, “change from bad to good”. “They say Lagos is moving. What is moving in Lagos? Lagos is just there. Nothing is moving in Lagos. Both APC and PDP have destroyed this country. Pastors who are to talk are part of the corrupt system. Bishops, Primates, Prophets. Everybody is going to answer before God. I am not here to judge any Pastor but I am standing on the altar of truth.”

“Osinbajo Is My Problem”-President Jonathan Cries Out In Secret Meeting With Pentecostal Pastors In Abuja

Ruffled by the momentum generated by the nomination of Pastor Yemi Osinbajo as General Mohamadu Buhari's running mate, President Goodluck Jonathan is asking a group of Pentecostal pastors to help him avert what he fears could be an impending loss in next month's presidential polls. Bishop David Oyedepo led the Pentecostal pastors to the meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan State House Photo
Osinbajo, a prominent cleric with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, law professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN emerged APC's presidential running mate last month giving President Jonathan and the ruling party, PDP, what is being described as sleepless nights, by sources.
Specifically last Thursday, the President held a meeting in Abuja, with a number of Pentecostal pastors led by Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel, with the main agenda being how to fashion out ways to solve the "Osinbajo" problem.
Sources at the meeting confirmed that President Jonathan confessed in a rather rattled and humbling manner that "Osinbajo is my problem."
According to those at the meeting, the President added that "everything was okay until APC picked Osinbajo."
This is coming against the background of wild speculations that APC is an Islamist party and that General Buhari is a religious fundamentalist-which has become one of the main planks of the PDP presidential campaign. While PDP chieftains and supporters have continued to characterize APC as an Islamist party, APC leaders have consistently dismissed such as unfounded, baseless and a scare tactic by the PDP.
Many observers say the nomination of a prominent Pentecostal pastor from the fastest growing church in Africa by the APC may have effectively doused such speculations and the attempt to label the party as one with an islamization agenda.
There has been a rather conscious attempt to make next month's presidential polls a religious one especially in the Southern part of the country where there is a much larger Christian population, observers say.


At the meeting organized by the Executive Secretary of the National Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) John Kennedy Okpara, President Jonathan poured out his mind that running against a leading Pastor of the RCCG, who is also known to be very close to the much reverred General Overseer of the church, Pastor E.A. Adeboye, is an uphill task.
Sources at the meeting, said Jonathan was ruffled and much distracted as he confessed to the challenge to him, of the APC naming such a person as Osinbajo as General Buhari's running mate.
In response, the Pastors led by Bishop Oyedepo assured the President at the meeting that they would, "starting from today," use every device possible including social media, the pulpit and influence peddling, to campaign in support of President Jonathan and against the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket.
Before the meeting with the President, sources said the pastors held a meeting on the same day to strategize and agree on how and what they would present  to the president.
At that pre-meeting, some Pentecostal pastors suggested that they use the opportunity of the meeting afforded by the President to express their genuine fears on growing insecurity in the North with Boko Haram killing and attacking Christians and other innocent Nigerians.
But Bishop David Oyedepo, the most influential pastor at the meeting interrupted the idea, insisting that the meeting was to encourage and strengthen President Jonathan ahead of the elections and not to discuss compelling national issues of concern to majority of Nigerians.
While some of the pastors were shocked and disappointed that Bishop Oyedepo would not allow them to raise important issues bothering most Nigerians, they decided to keep silent not to be seen as spoilsports.
And later after meeting the president, the pastors gathered together again on the same day to device strategies they will use to campaign against Buhari/Osinbajo, with the main scheme being to label the ticket as an Islamist one.
Some of the pastors also suggested that they can influence Christians that the position of Vice President is not an effective one, and that having a Christian hold it makes no difference, although the Nigerian constitution and the order of precedence makes the office the next in rank to the president.
Indeed as if carrying out the resolve, members of the Winners Chapel said Bishop Oyedepo has already started using the pulpit to achieve the goals set out at last Thursday meeting in Abuja.
Some of the members said yesterday Sunday January 18, Bishop Oyedepo raised a prayer point that an Islamist would not become the President of Nigeria in the polls coming next month to the chagrin of many of the church attendants on Sunday.
Culled from Empowered Newswire

Any Man Who Says He Has One Wife Is Deceiving Himself, Says Oba of Lagos

Oba Rilwan Babatunde Osuolale Aremu Akiolu 1

There’s quite a lot to learn about men and their love for women from Oba Rilwan Babatunde Osuolale Aremu Akiolu 1, also known as the Eleko of Eko.

Oba Rilwan who was the Assistant Inspector General of Police before he retired in 2002, was crowned King of Lagos on May 23, 2003.

In a new interview with Sunday Sun, the Oba who met his first wife 50 years ago explained in details why no man sticks with one woman.

“You see, there is no handsome, rich, young man who does not like women. That a man likes a woman is different from a man who cannot do without women. When you see a man who cannot do without women, he can sleep with anyone. His sister, maid, his son’s wife, daughter, colleague, niece, any woman.
Any man who says he has one wife is deceiving himself. All those who say they have one wife have mistresses outside. I am going to be 72 now and I cherish beautiful women and nobody can stop me. I like women and I can’t do without women are two different things.
That time, I was a policeman. She came for sports. She is the daughter of the late Sir Olateru Olagbegi and was very jealous. I told her what’s wrong with you, your father married 40 wives. The man was a fantastic man. I liked him.
I have many women friends now. I can marry more wives now. There’s nothing they can do. If I ask them and they go with me, good. If not, good luck.

He also claims he doesn’t have a favorite wife or child.

“All of them make me happy because they know I am a no-nonsense man and nobody can predict what I will do. They call me Aseyiwu Eledumare and I say I am not Eledumare. Even among my children, I have no favorite. If you have a son who makes you happy, why will you not like him? The child who does not make you happy, pray to God and try to correct him. You see, I have no friend, I have no enemy. That’s what I was doing with my son Tinubu. You see Tinubu and Fashola are special blessings to Lagos. All the people who contested are all my children.” 

Open Letter To Bishop David Oyedepo, The Gatekeeper Of Hell

Dissecting Bishop Oyedepo's support for GEJ and Sambo's anti-christ outburst against churches and Pastor(Prof.) Osinbajo at the Jigawa State PDP Presidential rally.

I was shocked when a man of God, Bishop David Oyedepo who I respect so much said in his church some days ago that his members should slaughter any one that looks like a terrorist. The key word there is "anyone that looks like." While I am 100% in support of self defense, I abhor tribal profiling and targeting. When this happens, innocent lives are bound to be lost. Then in the 3rd service of his Church on Sunday, January 25, 2015, attended by President Jonathan, my dear Bishop Oyedepo said in a comment directed at President Jonathan “We will open the gates of hell on those who oppose you.When God enthrones you no one can dethrone you”



My Bishop's support of Jonathan is anchored on the false premise that Buhari is planning to Islamize Nigeria. Nothing could be further from the truth. IBB not Buhari registered Nigeria as a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). IBB, Abacha and Abdusalami Abubakar attended OIC meetings. No President of Nigeria has attended OIC meetings in the last 15 years until President Jonathan attended an OIC meeting in late 2014. Buhari never attended any OIC meeting and refused to join the OIC even though he was a military Head of State possessing immense powers. How can the same Buhari now Islamize Nigeria in a democratic setting which has the checks and balances of the National Assembly and the Judiciary?

Is my Bishop aware of what happened a few days ago? At the Presidential campaign rally of GEJ/Sambo in Jigawa state on January 21st, 2015, in the presence of President Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo stated in Hausa :

"Buhari ya dauko pastor a matsayin mataimakinsa kunsan coci nawa yake dashi? Yanada coci 5000, don haka karku zabesu. The translation is - "Buhari has selected a pastor as his running mate, do you know how many churches he has? He has 5000 churches, so based on that, don't vote for them".

My Bishop, Sambo used religious sentiments in his attempt to divide the country and incite Muslims against Christians. Sambo also said at the rally that the PDP is the most Islamic Party in Nigeria because nobody can be more Muslim than him. He said that his name is Namadi which is a derivative of Namadina, meaning someone from the Medina in Saudi Arabia. At the Rally in Jigawa State Sambo also stated that he goes for the Hajj every year.

My dear Bishop, in Sambo's determination to whip up religious sentiments and divisions, he stated at the Jigawa state rally that all the security chiefs in the Jonathan administration are Muslims and based on that, those alleging that Jonathan is supportive of Boko Haram are not being fair. He mentioned the names of some key ministers in the Jonathan administration including Defence Minister, Aliyu Gusau, NSA, Sambo Dasuki, Inspector General of Police, Abba whom he emphasized are all Muslims. He also mentioned all the Muslim ministers from Kano, including Aminu Wali, Foreign Affairs Minister and Shekarau, Minister of Education.

Bishop, Sambo then asked if anyone could claim to be more Muslim than him Namadi Sambo. Then he shouted Allahu Akbar (Allah is great several times). To close his speech he recited the AlFatiha, (The Opening, the first seven verses of the Holy Quran, which for Muslims is the Mother of the Book, highly revered by all).

My dear Bishop, Sambo's outburst against Christians and Pastor Osinbajo would not surprise close watchers of political events in Nigeria but it does reconfirm the outcome of late General Azazi thorough and extensive investigation of Boko Haram and in which he concluded that the PDP founded Boko Haram and finances its terrorist activities.

MY ADVISE TO CHRISTIANS WHO RESPECT BISHOP OYEDEPO
To Christians like me who hold Bishop Oyedepo in great esteem this is my advise to you;

Don't let any pastor tell you who to vote for. Does Bishop Oyedepo experience the effects of misgovernance? Bishop is on 24-hr power generators and he does not even know when there is power outage. You bear the brunt of misgovernance daily and you should know that voting GEJ is a guarantee of another 4 years of no electricity, corruption galore and insurgency that will claim more lives and disintegrate Nigeria. Vote based on what you know not on religious or tribal sentiments!

Currently, 70% of the territory of states like Borno, Yobe and Adamawa are under the firm control of Boko Haram. This is the first time this is happening in Nigeria. Boko Haram bombing and genocide has targeted both Christians and Muslims, churches, mosques and schools attended by both Christians and Muslims. Because of Boko Haram's control of about 5% of Nigeria's territory, Nigeria's map has been redrawn.

When a bomb goes off in a market place it does not discriminate between Muslims and Christians. When the village of the Chief of Defense staff close to Mubi was attacked he did not rescue his fellow christian villagers but he airlifted his relatives out of danger and leaving his fellow Christians to be slaughtered by Boko Haram. The "polithievians," "executhieves," "legislooters" and "judishare" officers of Nigeria have only one religion that unites them and that religion is stealing and looting with impunity.

How many of the Pastors that are telling you to vote for Jonathan have children who are unemployed graduates sitting at home; bear the brunt of insecurity; send their children to public school; patronize government hospitals like you do or understand what the members of their religious organizations go through on a daily basis?

Did Bishop Oyedepo speak out when ASUU and ASUP were on strike twice in 4 years thereby leading to the loss of almost 2 years in the academic calender of Universities and Polytechnics?

Did Bishop Oyedepo speak out to condemn the manner in which the almost 300 Chibok girls were kidnapped? Did he condemn the manner in which the President refused to acknowledge that they were kidnapped? Did Bishop Oyedepo condemn the failure of the President to rescue the Chibok girls 9 months after they were kidnapped by the insurgents?

Did Bishop Oyedepo speak out when medical doctors went on strike twice in 4 years leading to the death of millions of Nigerians.

Has Bishop Oyedepo spoken out against the ongoing strike by health workers and judicial workers in Nigeria?

All these strikes have to do with the inability of President Jonathan and the PDP government to abide by industrial agreements signed after extensive bargaining among stake holders and their insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians.

Did Bishop Oyedepo speak out when 16>19, 5>26 and 7>19 in the Governors Forum election, Rivers state house of Assembly and Ekiti State House of Assembly in clear and reckless violation of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria?

Has Bishop Oyedepo spoken out to condemn the legalized looting of billions of dollars of Nigeria's money taking place under the watch of President Jonathan? Did Bishop Oyedepo speak out to condemn the beating up of a state High Court judge in Ekiti state by the Chief Thug of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose and his gang of thugs?

Did Bishop Oyedepo speak out to condemn the deliberate flouting of court orders by President Jonathan which has become like a recurring decimal in his administration?

Let Pastors like Bishop Oyedepo who don't know what their members are going through or who are unable to feel the pulse of the masses, stick to what they know how to do best which is feeding Chist's sheep as Christ commanded them, but let them stay out of politics. Bishop Oyedepo should not try to influence Christians to vote for a failed President like Jonathan. I urge all Christians to vote their conscience to free themselves from the 16 year bondage of the PDP led administration.

Section 95 (3) of the Electoral Act, states that “places designated for religious worship, police station and public offices shall not be used for political campaigns, rallies and processions or to promote, propagate or attack political parties, candidates, their political ideologies or programmes.”

Let my darling Bishop note that his actions on the pulpit violates this law and as a man of God the scripture expects him to obey the laws of the land. We are to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.
By Bunmi Awoyemi

 

'He never asked God to open ‘hell gate’ - Winners Chapel denies allegation against Oyedepo

The Living Faith Church, popularly known as Winners Chapel, on Sunday dismissed reports that its founder, Bishop David Oyedepo, vowed to unleash the gate of hell on anybody who opposed the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.
 Jonathan visited the headquarters of the church in Ota, Ogun State on Sunday, January 25.

Shortly after the visit, there were reports that Oyedepo allegedly declared a public support for the President.

In a statement by the Resident Pastor of the church, Pastor Ubong Ntia, the church said the reports “were far from the truth.”



The church said those spreading the rumour should have obtained the video clip of the service and verified the claim.

“There was nowhere, nor was there any time the following prayer or words were uttered by the Church or the Bishop: ‘I will open the gates of hell to anyone who opposes you’, or ‘I will open the gates of hell to anyone who opposes the peace of this nation’,” the statement read.

The church said the rumours were intended to cause mischief and to dent the image of Oyedepo and as well as create confusion in the country.

It also said Oyedepo did not call the President to the altar for any special deliverance.

“President Jonathan along with his entourage, like the rest of the congregation, was upstanding, and prayers were made for him and all those in authority, and the nation,” the statement added.

Recounting the visit, the church said, “The President and his entourage arrived at Canaan Land (Faith Tabernacle) for the third service at about 9. 30am. He and his team were ushered in and asked to occupy the front seats alongside the resident pastor and other senior pastors. Thereafter, in honour of the President, Bishop Oyedepo invited Jonathan to ‘bring a word of greeting’ to the congregation.

“President Jonathan spent approximately six minutes in his address, clearly stating that he would be careful not to sound political so that his visit and intentions would not be construed as electioneering campaign.

“In his brief speech, he adulated the ministry and person of bishop for the mighty works of faith, prayer for Nigeria and educational milestones the Living Faith Church has engendered for national development. He then expressed his belief that the elections of 2015 would go peacefully, while also asking for the people of God to pray more.”

The church said contrary to insinuations that the visit was meant to canvass votes from the church, the President visited “in his capacity as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Our church of over 33 years has been a sanctuary for all people with no prejudice to colour, ethnicity and political persuasion. We stand for righteousness and cherish our integrity.”

 

Jonathan, Obasanjo, Adeboye, Oyedepo meet in Abeokuta

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan eventually  met on Monday evening at Obasanjo’s mansion on Presidential Hilltop Estate, Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.

 Sources close to the Obasanjo home said the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye and founder of Winners’ Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, were at the meeting at the instance of the former President as one of conditions given by Obasanjo before any meeting with Jonathan could take place .

It was learnt that the men of God were called to be witnesses of what would transpire between Jonathan and his benefactor, Obasanjo, during the meeting after the terms of the outcome of previous series of discussions between the two were allegedly not followed by the President.

It was further learnt that Obasanjo would use the avenue to ask Jonathan salient questions to the hearing of Adeboye and Oyedepo bordering on security situation of the country, his loyalists who were weeded out of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) as well as the matter concerning the South West Organising Mobilisation Committee Chairman of PDP, Prince Buruji Kashamu, whom the former President said can’t be his leader.


As of 10.19pm, there was no official comment on the outcome of the meeting.

Earlier, the social media had been awash with reports that Obasanjo, who stayed away from the Peoples Democratic Party presidential campaign at the MKO International Stadium in Abeokuta , shunned Jonathan.

Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party leaders were in the Ogun State capital to seek support for the President’s re-election bid.

The former President had made a surprise appearance at the wedding of Jonathan daughter on Saturday, thus raising hopes that their sour relationship was over.

Obasanjo, our correspondent gathered,, had left Hilltop at 2.59pm and did not return till Jonathan and his entourage retreated to the Presidential Lodge in the city around 5.30pm, after their campaign.

The President arrived at the stadium at exactly 3. 50pm and had headed straight for the state box from where he later moved out to acknowledge cheers from the crowd .

Operatives of the Department of State Security, who had earlier besieged the Hilltop as early as 6am in anticipation of Jonathan’s arrival left the place at exactly 3.36pm.

Their departure fuelled the reports that Obasanjo was not willing to receive the President. Before then, Vice- President Namadi Sambo, who was also in Abeokuta visited the Alake and Paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, in his palace at Ake, without going to the former President’s home.

While addressing party supporters at the stadium, Jonathan said his administration would create eight million jobs if re-elected.

Giving the breakdown of how he would this, he said that at least two million jobs would be created each year in collaboration with the private sector.

He said, “We are out to create jobs. Our target is to create at least two million jobs every year. We are working with the private sector, including Tony Elumelu. When you hear Elumelu, you know we are talking about a serious investor.”

Jonathan, who noted that Ogun State had produced great Nigerian leaders like the late Obafemi Awolowo, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and MKO Abiola, said through his government’s vibrant industrial policy, about 56 industries had been attracted to Ogun State.

He also stated that his administration would embark on the construction of silos and other produce storage facilities across the country, including Ogun state, to enhance storage and preservation of agric produce.

The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, had said that the PDP had been able to reduce annual expenses on food imports from N1.1tn to N697bn through a vibrant agricultural programme.

Bishop Oyedepo Says he will 'open the gate of hell on those who oppose the President.

President  Goodluck Jonathan was a guest at the Winners Chapel in Ota Ogun state today and according to people who who attended the service, they claim Pastor Oyedepo said he will 'open the gate of hell on those who oppose the President.  Oyedepo during the service declared his unflinching support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.

Oyedepo reportedly also said: “I pray that God will grant President Jonathan the unusual grace to meet the demands of his office.”

Oyedepo and Jonathan

Jonathan on his part addressed the congregation saying: “I don’t want to talk much before I am accused of coming to Church to campaign for election. I plead with you all to keep praying for successful and peaceful election next month.”

“There are various predictions concerning the election, but I trust God to take control of the situation. I commend Bishop Oyedepo for his commitment to the work of God and education, without education we can’t achieve much,” he added.

Oyedepo is one of the clerics supporting the President and has accompanied him on pilgrimage to Israel. He also reportedly witnessed a meeting between former President, Olusegun Obasanjo and Jonathan, along with the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Enoch Adeboye.

 

Did Bishop Oyedepo say this?

Did pastor Oyedepo really say this?

President Jonathan was a guest at Winners Chapel in Ota Ogun state today and according to people who were there, they claim Pastor Oyedepo said he will 'open the gate of hell on those who oppose the President. Did he really say this?

Pope Francis and his late friend,Bishop Tony Palmer

Pope Francis: The Pope of the world

Cardinal Onaiyekan Comdemns On Buhari Over Certificate, Health

John Cardinal Onaiyekan is the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese. In this exclusive interview,
 the former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) bared his mind on a variety of burning national issues, including his thoughts on the build-up to this year’s general elections. The countdown to this year’s general elections has commenced in earnest with the major political parties intensifying their electioneering campaigns. What are your thoughts on the build-up to the elections? One would have said that by now we should have gotten our acts together and be able to conduct democratic elections as a routine process in our political history, just as it is in most developed and civilized nations. But I am afraid that, unfortunately, even as we approach the next general elections, there is general air of fear and anxiety in the atmosphere; expressed by the fact that many people are moving their families to where they consider safe havens. Many Nigerians are sending their families back home to their villages, especially southerners living in the far north. They are relocating back home. This is internal movement and I have been told that other Nigerians at the top level are also sending their families abroad until the elections are over. Some of them are even top level people within the political environment and I think we cannot deny that this is happening. The only thing we can also affirm is that the vast majority of Nigerians are not running away; they have nowhere to run to. This means most of us will all be here in our respective places of domicile and this is a question that concerns all of us, whether this election would be free, fair and non-violent. That does not only depend on the politicians or government alone, but also on all of us. What I have been preaching all along is for our people, the ordinary Nigerians to reject violence, refuse to be intimidated, stand their ground and perform their civic duty and not to allow anyone to disorganize their mind. Even then I also still believe that it is the responsibility of government to conduct elections. But the way our government has always been, the institutions of government that should ensure impartial, independent electioneering have often found it difficult to remain totally neutral in relation to the contending parties. I think we need to admit that it is difficult because by the very nature of things, by the way the INEC is constituted and by extension the kind of control from the government, which makes the ruling party have control over national security agencies, namely the police, army SSS. Because of that the tendency has always been for the government in power to enjoy undue advantage over the others. As you know, Nigerians can rightly refer to the weight of incumbency; the idea being that it is difficult to dislodge the government in power, almost as if it is only a stupid government in power that allows it to be defeated. The question is, is this changing? Mr. President has repeatedly vowed and avowed that he will do everything in his power to ensure a free, fair and non-violent election. He also facilitated the famous meeting of all the political parties; particularly the leading presidential candidates on ground, at which meeting they signed an accord to ensure the election is free, fair and nonviolent. For me that is good news although I am aware there are people who are skeptical. I remember speaking here in my hall with a very prominent opposition politician who said it is a mere ritual that they perform during every election. I can’t remember it happening in previous elections and even if it did, it did not get the attention that this one attracted. Therefore, the message it sent at that level so far is very encouraging that we may indeed have a free and fair election devoid of violence. But that cannot happen only because you signed a piece of paper and I think the government who is largely responsible must take actions that speak louder than words such that the opposition is given a sense of confidence that yes what we signed will be properly implemented. I really believe that the government in power has to do that and Mr. President, having given his word of honour solemnly, he should do his best. This means he may have people around him who don’t believe in the pact or who are already planning strategies. He should find a way of eliminating them from the system and allow the process to go. There is no doubt that there is a link between the quality of the election and the possibility of post-election violence. Generally, as you have seen post-election violence is often an expression of disappointment or even anger at election results that are perceived to be not in line with the reality of the votes cast. It means that INEC must go out of its way to be clearly non- partisan and independent; it should be independent as its name says and seen to be independent. The security agents should be for the security of all of us; to protect all political parties without bias. Talking about the peace pact are you satisfied with the conduct of the two major parties in their presidential electioneering campaigns so far, in terms of the language and messages they are passing across? We still have to come back to the point I earlier made that President Jonathan and General Buhari embraced each other warmly with big smiles and that photograph has gone viral. I would like to believe that those smiles were sincere; but they should also realize that there may be others on both sides who may not share the same sentiments. This is where each of them must demonstrate true leadership to be able to bring in their members to the extent that such smiles, embrace and spirit that we saw on that photograph would be reflected in the conduct of the campaigns. It is not surprising that some persons, here or there, with misguided enthusiasm, may see things and carry out certain acts that are anything but civil. But what we do expect is that when that happens they would be called to order. It boils down to not using foul language and addressing issues. I wouldn’t say we should avoid addressing personalities because personalities are important; we have to address both. Personalities in the sense that, this guy has the qualities to rule or lacks the qualities to do so. But even when you are discussing personalities during campaigns it should not be insults. It is allowed for politicians to assess the past performance of their opponents as a way to indicate how much they fit power or not and this can be done without insults. It is up to the electorate who are listening to them to weigh the weight of the argument one way or the other and to decide who to vote for. What is your personal take on the performance of the current PDP led administration in terms of security, fighting corruption and managing the economy? Let me say that before the build up to the elections we have been talking, it is not to be unexpected that whatever problem that is on ground we put the responsibility on the government in power; they are the ones who have asked to be our rulers, therefore, if we go into serious issues like that of corruption we must be the ones to say much has been left undone. Even the government itself admits, though they may give excuses like, for example, saying that every nation is saddled with corruption. They might even say we have set up EFCC, ICPC and so on, but the question is there are too many people who are getting away with corrupt behaviour and there is no point asking me to bring proof of accusation of corruption. There are agencies that should be able to track how people acquire wealth and how far such wealth can be justified on the basis of their income. It is the job of government agencies to do that, there are obviously a lot of people who have acquired wealth that it is not too difficult to explain how they came about such wealth. Take the area of security; the Latin people have a proverb which says “you don’t argue with a fact before you.” For example, that you came to my house today at 5.15pm is a fact that we cannot argue over. In the same way it is obvious that there is insecurity in the land, what is even obvious is that there has been a trend of growing insecurity in respect of Boko Haram. I don’t know whether there is less insecurity in other areas, like kidnapping and armed robbery, or is it that Boko Haram has completely taken our attention. But I am told that kidnapping has not even been arrested, it is still going on. In fact, somebody phoned me last night that her brother was kidnapped in Gboko of all places, which means whatever efforts the government is making to ensure that all of us are safe, those efforts have not achieved adequate success. The first responsibility of every government is to ensure the security of lives and property of citizens. In a situation like elections, you cannot say since this government has not done XYZ then I am going to the other person or you say this government has not done XYZ but we have no confidence in this new person. The opposition does not have to prove how much they have done because they have not been in power. This is why in developed democracies, incumbency is always a liability in elections and generally the opposition is at an advantage because they can always put the blame of everything on the ruling party and claim that if you put them there you will see wonders. This is why in Europe and America you seen this ding-dong going on and I think there is something good about that. If you go try your best and people would say let us try some other persons and the next people would come and do their best and by the end of the day the whole society is much better. Therein lies the strength of democracy; you can always change your mind and you can always bring people back. Why I am going through this is that at this point there is no reason asking me whether Jonathan has performed well enough because that is going to be the major question for the election and I don’t want to pre-empt that. You earlier expressed concern about reports about people moving away from the north and vice versa. Are you particularly afraid? I am living in Abuja and if I am not particularly afraid, it is not because there is no reason to worry. It is simply that my own emotional make up, especially with regards to the Nigeria project, is such that I am very optimistic. You are here in my house; did you see any policeman or soldier? But there are people who cannot do without them because they are always afraid. I go around freely without carrying a platoon of soldiers to protect me and there are people who are telling me that I am being very naïve. Some people have noted that my jeep is clearly inscribed with Cardinal Archbishop of Abuja and they say look, you are advertising yourself for attack. I have been advertising myself for the past many years and no attack has come. Instead I have made myself liable to be recognized and treated very well. Therefore, you have to weigh the consequences and make up your mind. Personally, I have a strong conviction that we will get over it. That is why I always encourage that we, in the churches, should keep talking to our people to resist violence. Let election campaigns be done with conviviality, we are not enemies. What roles should religious leaders play in times like this? Are they living up to such roles in Nigeria, given our current situation? In Nigeria today who is a religious leader? So many people claim to be religious leaders and there are many religious leaders who are politicians and who carry on mixing their religion and politics. It is something you cannot really avoid and that makes your question difficult. I can only talk for myself. Fortunately, I belong to a church which has rules that we who are clergy abide by. Those of us who have chosen to be clergy cannot be part of any partisan organization. I can’t be a card carrying, advertising member of one party. That doesn’t mean that I do not have an obligation to vote, but I cannot go up to the pulpit and say vote for X or vote for Y; that is what my church says. But you know there are other churches which don’t have such rules where reverends are themselves strong members of political parties and right now we have it in our hands. So when you then talk about religious leaders, the question becomes difficult. We hear that the vice presidential candidate of the APC is a pastor in a particular church. Do you describe him as a religious leader? I don’t know! But he is definitely a politician and there are many like him. In our church, if you are so disgusted with the system and you want to go into the battle of politics and engage in the political battle so as to capture power to rule, then you have to suspend your membership of the clergy for the simple reason that the church cannot be seen to be partisan. In my church, we have members who belong to APC, PDP and other political parties and I have to have a message that appeals to all of them. Talking about your church (I believe you are referring to the Catholic Church), one of your reverends, Emmanuel Mbaka, recently came under criticisms for his sermon against President Jonathan’s government and you were one of those that criticized him. Why? I am happy with this opportunity to balance the report that emanated from an interview I had with one of your colleagues. Assessing the performance of the government is what we do regularly and the reverend father in question was well in order to point out, especially the gap between declarations and real achievements. It is part of our duty to denounce deception and lies and to that extent I have no problem because I have been doing that myself. But when it reached a stage where he says you have to vote for X and not for Y he has crossed the boundary; he should have left those who were listening to him to make up their minds on that because they have every right to freedom of choice and not to be pressurized with spiritual power to go one way rather than the other. Of course, it is not every Reverend Father that is like the one you are talking about because in every group there are always those who are on their own. So has he been punished or sanctioned for violating the rules of the Catholic Church? I was reported to have said if he were a priest in my diocese I would sanction him, but I would not deny that. But the question is what do I mean by sanction? Sanction may not necessarily mean punishment; it may not be more than calling him for a discussion to point out to him that what he has done is not in order. That is already a sanction. Has he been punished? I don’t know because that is up to his bishop. Given the concerns you earlier raised over the forthcoming election, do you foresee a situation whereby there would be another post-election violence? The only thing I foresee is that our next president would either be Jonathan or Buhari; that is all. We are hoping that the conduct of the election would be so transparent that there will be no much room for quarrel when the result is announced. I think even the mechanism for our election, despite the inadequacies here and there, has been done in such a way that we can really transparently follow the movement of our votes. From what I understand, the votes are all counted at the polling booths, which are not secret locations. They are open and at each of them there are the agents of the political parties. Even those of us that are ordinary people have the right to stand around and ensure that things are done well. There should be no difficulty in counting votes. There should be no difficulty in collating votes in these days of advanced technology. Our Catholic Church was involved in election monitoring and we gave all our boys and girls cell phones, and from each polling booths, they were sending us the results as they were being announced. Somewhere along the line, we went into trouble because the result that was announced from the collating centers did not tally with what we independently collated. We have specific cases where our collations were used in election petitions and we succeeded in getting the elections overturned because it was clear that someone out there decided not to do the right thing. And this is what we have been saying, namely that if everybody involved with the electoral process is aware that this is a matter that is very important for Nigeria; that we cannot afford to leave ourselves in a situation of anger, frustration; that our votes have been badly handled, then they would do the right thing-transparently. And if it is clear that I didn’t win the election, there is no need to resort to violence. What is not good is to play monkey games, ballot box stuffing/snatching and at the end come up with a result. At the end of the day, you expect those who are declared losers to accept such results? They can’t accept it because it is not feasible. Sometimes the contestants may agree with the bad process, but their followers may not agree and they have every right to protest because at the end of the day it is their votes that are being rubbished. Should religion be a factor in deciding on choices during elections in Nigeria? A whole lot of things go into your choice of whom to vote for and what to vote for. Everybody has his or her own convictions and interests. There are people whom the most important factor in election is what religion the contestant belongs to. I have heard people telling me I will never vote for a Muslim and they are entitled to that position and there are those who say they won’t vote for a Christian. But if you ask me I would say you are wrong if you say you are a Christian and won’t vote for a Muslim. Supposing you have a rogue as a Christian candidate and a very good Muslim as a candidate, can you still say the same thing? Someone would say yes, but they have every right to their choices. But if you ask me I will say that our job as religious leaders should be to constantly tell people to vote according to their conscience and the person who would do a better job. Of course, who would do a better job depends on how you see it. There is also the other question of ethnic identity. Some people would say no matter what I will cast my vote for the man from my area. I am from Kogi State, which is very mixed with regards to tribes. The Igala is largely on the east and some of us Yoruba, Egbira and others. Every effort you make there it is difficult to remove ethnic politics. The Igala group is in the majority and every politician knows that once he gets the Igala people around him, then he has won the election. I hear the same thing is happening in Benue State between the Tiv and Idoma and what can you do about that? Politics is a game of number and once people have made up their minds to vote it is their right to do so, whether it is the right thing to do is another matter. But if you continue voting like that you are likely not to be getting the right candidates, because it is not likely that the person from your tribe is the best. Are you interested in the good candidate; the best person who will do the best job? That is the irony that makes elections difficult in Nigeria. One of the presidential candidates recently went into a church, thereby drawing comments from many people. What is your take on that? The fact that a Muslim candidate went to a church, there is nothing against that. In my own church I have received many Muslims for various reasons: weddings, funerals, thanksgiving services where you come with your friends including Muslims. So, that a Muslim visited the church there is no problem about that. The problem will only arise over what role he is given to play, otherwise there might be no difference between him and a Christian politician. If a Christian politician begins to campaign in the church, he is certainly wrong because the church is not a campaign podium. For the same reason, if a Muslim comes to Church to start campaigning it is wrong. You may say that his very presence there is interpreted to be campaign, but I am afraid that interpretation is uncalled for. Don’t forget that whoever will be our president would be the president of all Nigerians and he is going to be either Christian or Muslim. If my president is a Muslim I will be more comfortable if he is the kind of Muslim who has no difficulty coming to my church. But if I have a Muslim president who is so fanatical to the extent of not being able to stand the Christian faith and cannot enter the church, then there would be problems. Christians, also, go to the mosque when they are invited; you don’t pray with them, you just go there as a sign of solidarity. I can imagine that this politician you are talking about was brought to the church by his friend who happens to be a member of that church. With barely three weeks before the elections there are fears in the North-East where insurgency persists with many of the people there now living elsewhere as IDPs. This has made others to call for the suspension of elections in those states. What is your take? Let me tell you frankly I really do not know what to say. This is a serious problem! It is like whichever way you go you are wrong. Some people have canvassed the idea that we postpone the election until there is calm in the North-East, but as you know postponing election means prolonging tenure, so it is untouchable because a new government is expected to takeover on May 29, with a new president. To that extent, there is no way of postponing election. Even though Mr. President told them in Maiduguri the other day that all the IDPs will soon return to their homes, I think you would need a miracle for that to happen that soon. From the time he made that statement I have not seen any action on ground to give even the IDPs the confidence that they would soon go back to their homes for the election. Now, that it is obvious that first of all you cannot set up polling booths or polling stations in those areas because when you say a place is under Boko Haram insurgency it doesn’t necessarily mean their soldiers are stationed all over the place. No. They can launch attacks from anywhere, so the place is not safe and which means you cannot conduct election in that whole zone. That is not the only problem. They said arrangements would be made for IDPs who are in camps within their own states to vote and I think and hope they would go further on that arrangement for the simple reason that the vast majority of IDPs are not in camps. We have heard that not more than 10 per cent of them are in camps and to say that because you are not registered in camps you cannot vote is tantamount to deliberately disenfranchising the IDPs. I believe INEC should still put its thinking hat on, go back to the drawing board and open the space as much as possible to permit as many as possible for IDPs to vote. Are you confident that INEC would deliver in these elections, especially with the problems associated with PVC distribution? Was it last week or so that a governor , at a rally, was encouraging the people to please go and collect their PVCs. INEC said there were millions of PVCs that were waiting to be collected, but I am seeing the problem from the other hand. I am not putting the blame on these people who have not collected their PVCs, but I am putting the blame on INEC who has made it rather difficult for them to be collected. There should be a way of making the PVCs easily accessible and it is up to INEC and I put the blame on them. If you have a situation whereby you have hundreds of thousands of PVCs uncollected, it means that those uncollected PVCs can be put to sinister use on the day of election. The sooner we get done with our national ID cards the better, because most countries that is what they use for elections and in those countries every citizen has an ID card. What do you make of the controversy generated over the certificate of the APC presidential candidate? To me, this is an uncivilized attitude towards the election. As you know this whole story of certificate is being blown up as part of electioneering campaign. If you ask me I would say what has secondary school certificate got to do with whether either of the two candidates can rule the nation, especially when you are talking about somebody who has ruled the nation before and had reached the level of a General in the Army? Are we saying that he has not got the level of education of a secondary school? Those who say so are simply looking for reasons to score political points. It is just like the story about the condition of his health which is very sad. I am 71 years of age and all of us at this age have something in us; one form of terminal disease or the other, which is normal at that age. The Bible says the sum of our years is 70 and when I marked my 70th birthday, I went to my doctor and told him that I have reached the sum of my years and I am expecting death anytime so he should please help me find out which disease can kill me so that I can prepare. This is normal that anybody at 70 and above has something, but the election law does not say you must bring out all your medical records; everybody keep their medical records. We have even seen sick presidents who have performed very well; we have even seen blind presidents who have performed very well in their countries, so let us be very serious. I am very sorry that these issues are being raised. Those who are raising these issues are the ones dragging the level of political discourse to the mud and they are getting on our nerves.