Michael Ojuroye Initiative (Ngo)

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, has 21 children and though he listed the names in his recent controversial book, My Watch, he did not mention their mothers. However findings by ENCOMIUM Weekly revealed the mothers of these children and other women that had dalliances with the two-time president of the country. The mothers of the children include… MRS. OLUREMI OBASANJO,  his first wife, who he married on Saturday, June 22, 1963, at Camberwell Green Registry, South East London. She was just 21. Mrs. Oluremi Obasanjo is the mother of six of the 21 children of the former president. They are Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, Busola Obasanjo, ; Olusegun Obasanjo, the first son, ; Olugbenga Obasanjo, Enitan Obasanjo, and Damilola Obasanjo, the last of the woman’s children who was born in 1982 MRS. STELLA OBASANJO, the late former First Lady died on Sunday, October 23, 2005, in Spain after a failed tummy tuck surgery. She had only a child, Olumuyiwa Obasanjo, who was born in 1977, fo...

The allegation of training snipers to assassinate political opponents is particularly incomprehensible to me  – President President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday formally replied the 18-page letter written to him by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying it was a threat national security. Unlike Obasanjo’s letter which was dated December 2 but leaked to the press on December 11, Jonathan’s letter was made available to journalists by his(Jonathan) Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati in Abuja. In the letter titled “Re: Before It is too Late,” an obviously angry Jonathan said the former President did him grave injustice with the open letter in which he was accused of deceit, deception, dishonesty, incompetence, clannishness, divisiveness and insincerity, amongst other ills. He gave 10 reasons why he chose to make his own letter public. One of them, according to him, is because  Obasanjo’s  letter is clearly a threat to national security, as it may...

NOT too long ago, Nigerians were reminded that matters that involved the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, were family affairs. The party extended its “family affairs” to the condoning of the arsons in many parts of the country, in the course of its members vying for political power. PDP stood above the law, which its members never expected to defend them, especially in contests among themselves. Another round of feud has broken out in the family. It may assume the hue of letter writing, but any family – whether political or biological – that communicates to itself in the manner we have seen in the past few weeks, is in trouble. PDP is really in trouble, but it is not doomed as many predict. Its trouble is rooted in the indiscipline within the party. More importantly, more party members have assumed statures that tempt them to act with impunity that was reserved for a select few. Nigerians may be seeing a contest over privileges, particularly the right to dictate what happens, rather ...

Former Governor Segun Osoba of Ogun State who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has confirmed that he met Iyabo Obasanjo, the daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, during his trip to the United States in September 2013. Recounting his chance meeting with Ms. Obasanjo to SaharaReporters, Chief Osoba said he was in the United States for the 73rd anniversary of the Nieman Foundation Fellowship when he ran into Iyabo, a former senator in Nigeria. The former governor told SaharaReporters he was staying at The Charles Hotel in Cambridge when he had a chance encounter with the daughter of the former president who told him her car was parked in the hotel’s basement parking lot. Chief Osoba said that, after the meeting, Ms. Obasanjo went downstairs to get her car and then drove him to the offices of the Nieman Foundation Center where he had an event. He said commute took close to an hour, leaving plenty of time for a long conversation between him and for...

President Goodluck Jonathan President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday   hit back at  his critics and opposition parties, accusing them of  painting his  administration “bad before the global community.” He therefore warned that  he would  not allow their selfish  ambition for the 2015 general election  to destroy the country. His warning is coming six days after an 18-page letter in which a  former President, Chief  Olusegun Obasanjo, made scathing remarks about  his  administration was made public. It also came less than 24 hours after the opposition All Progressives Congress called on the National Assembly to immediately    commence impeachment proceeding against Jonathan for alleged gross misconduct.  Although he  has yet to personally respond to Obasanjo’s letter and the APC’s  call for his impeachment, the   Peoples Democratic Movement  and the  Nigeria Labour Congre...

I READ   with much pain in my bones, heartache and running stomach the interview granted by a second Republic member of House of Representatives and a Russian trained medical doctor Junaid Mohammed, captioned  2015: there’ll be bloodshed, if Jonathan runs, warns  Junaid Mohammed. I have watched and listened with keen interest to see or hear reactions from Nigerians or security operatives condemning this interview but to no avail. It is imperative and instructive for discerning Nigerians to rise up against this treasonable and unwarranted incitation. For a man like Junaid Mohammed to openly and on the pages of  Sunday Sun  Newspaper of December 1st, 2013 on page 61 incite our Northern brothers and sisters to declare war against the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Southerners if Jonathan runs in 2015. It is very unfortunate and irresponsible of a man of his standing as, this act amounts to a crime against the State and a call for a civil war. He als...

The All Progressives Congress has called on the National Assembly to immediately commence the process of impeaching President Goodluck Jonathan for alleged gross misconduct. It  said  in a statement on Sunday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that Jonathan’s impeachment  would  save Nigeria from imminent collapse. But the Presidency warned the APC and others, who it said were  bent on plunging the nation into political instability,  to be ready for the consequences of treasonable action. The opposition party,  however, said it  made the  call with a high sense of responsibility and   strong belief that the impeachment of the President was a legitimate constitutional option available to the National Assembly not only to protect the nation’s democracy, but  to ensure its  unity. It explained that  it based  the  call for Jonathan’s impeachment on the  dangerous dr...

Despite the outcry by opposition political parties against the electoral register that was used during the recently concluded Anambra State governorship election,  Chairman of the  Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega yesterday rose in defence of the document insisting that it was credible. Although, Jega acknowledged that the register  was not yet  the ideal, he explained that the commission offered the people of Anambra state the opportunity to make the register work, but they refused to make use of the opportunity offered  by the commission. Speaking at the Fourth quarterly meeting with registered political parties yesterday in Abuja, the INEC chairman said that the voters register was “not as bad as some  people are strenuously trying to make it appear.” According to Prof Jega: “As we are all aware, complaints were made about the Register of Voters in the aftermath of the Anambra Governorship election, with at least ...

At 75, he feels fulfilled having contributed immensely to the nation’s socio-economic and political development. Between 1979-1983 Chief Olorunfunmi Basorun was the Secretary to Lagos State Government during the administration of Alhaji Lateef Jakande However, before his foray into politics, he worked for over 20 years at the nation’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) where he rose to become a Deputy Director before he voluntarily retired on September 30, 1979. At a point, during his civil service years, he went into unionism and later became the President of the CBN workers union. BY ‘TUNDE THOMAS A fellow of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria,CIBN,  Basorun also served as Commissioner for Education in Lagos State.  He was also a member of Lagos State Delegation to the National Political Reform Conference organized by Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration is 2005. In this interview, he speaks at length about the state of the nation, his civil service years,...

Governor Babatunde Fashola The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has said Governor Babatunde Fashola should learn from President Goodluck Jonathan, especially in the area of harmonious politics. The party said this against the backdrop of the Federal Government’s approval of a $200m loan sought by the Lagos State Government. The party, in a statement by its publicity secretary, Taofik Gani, accused Fashola of playing bad politics by frustrating developmental programmes of PDP councillors in their wards. The statement read in part “In the opinion of the party, the Federal Government’s gestures to an opposition state government has further confirmed that the Jonathan-led PDP Government is indeed a government of development with human face and with clear direction, contrary to the  impression being sponsored by the All Progressives Congress. “Unlike Fashola and his council chairmen who are deliberately witch hunting our few councillors by denying their wards de...

Candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Willie Obiano has been declared winner of the disputed governorship election in Anambra State according to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria. Professor Chukwuemeka Onukogu, the Resident Commissioner of INEC in Anambra state declared in Awka that Mr. Obiano won the election by polling   180,178 votes in 19 local government areas in the state.  The total votes won by the APGA candidates constitutes 25% of the votes in at least 19 LGAs out of the 21 LGAs in the state. The election results were declared after the completion of today's supplementary elections which was boycotted by major parties that earlier participated in the first ballot. Follow us on Twitter:   Click here

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the restriction on human and vehicular movements in two local government areas in Anambra during Saturday’s supplementary governorship election. A statement from the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukaogu, in Awka on Friday named the local governments as Idemili North and Onitsha South. It also said the restriction would begin at midnight on Friday and end at 6 p.m. on Saturday. According to the statement, the restriction was to ensure a successful and peaceful conduct of the supplementary election. It warned travellers passing through the state to find alternative routes during the period. The statement also warned politicians and other individuals not to move about with security officials and appealed for total compliance with the directive. It warned that “anybody who flouts this order will be arrested and prosecuted. “These measures are geared toward a hitch-free conduct of elec...

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Tony Anenih, has described the defection of five governors of the party to the opposition All Progressives Congress as a sad development. He, however, urged party loyalists across the nation not to panic over the  governors’ decision. Anenih said this while responding to questions from journalists in Abuja, on Thursday. The BoT chairman said he took solace in the fact that the party leadership including President Goodluck Jonathan, former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, former National Chairmen, Senators Barnabas Gemade and Ahmadu Ali and himself “invested enough energy, commitment, maturity and sincerity in the collective effort at reconciliation.” He said, “Indeed, I had expected the governors to stay on in the party which  offered them a unique opportunity to serve their people. “Surprisingly, they decided to abandon their home and platform to take up tenancy in an oppositio...

The seven aggrieved governors of the Peoples Democratic Party have announced their decision to merge with the All Progressives Congress. The governors, at the meeting they had with the leadership of the APC in Abuja on Tuesday, said their decision was aimed at rescuing the country. A former Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, announced the decision after the meeting, which was held at Kano Governor’s Lodge in Abuja. Among the governors at the meeting were that of Rivers (Rotimi Amaechi), Kano(Rabiu Kwankwanso), Adamawa(Murtala Nyako), Kwara(Badulfatah Ahmed) and Niger(Dr. Babangida Aliyu). The governors of Jigawa and Sokoto states, Sule Lamido and Aliyu Wamakko respectively were absent. Baraje said the governors were part of the decision. Some leaders of the APC like its Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; a former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and a former Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), were in attendance. ...

Thabo Mbeki FORMER South African President, Thabo Mbeki’s contention that ordinary Nigerians deserve as much blame as the politicians for the leadership failure in the country provides a valid platform for the re-evaluation of citizens’ role in governance in Nigeria. According to the man who took over the mantle of leadership from the great Nelson Mandela, it is only the citizens themselves that can put a stop to bad leadership. We agree. Democracy’s efficacy and legitimacy are predicated on an informed citizenry; without active and knowledgeable citizens, democratic representation remains empty; without vigilant, informed citizens, there is no check on potential tyranny. Mbeki’s position quickly brings to mind the statement credited to a French historian and political thinker, Alexis de Tocqueville, that “in a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.” Given his background as an activist and freedom fighter, whose struggles helped to bring down the obnoxious aparth...

Alh. Lai Mohammed With the governorship election  in Anambra State declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and mixed reactions trailing the outcome, the interim National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, argues, in this interview, that the exercise remains irredeemably defective. Excerpts: The governorship election in Anambra State has come and gone… It has not gone. Okay it is still ongoing but while some are calling for outright cancellation of the election,   INEC has vowed to go ahead with a supplementary election. What  happens if it goes ahead with the supplementary poll? There are many options to be explored and such options will be discussed at the NEC meeting of the party. But what does INEC mean by supplementary election? The November 16 governorship election  in Anambra  State is irredeemably defective. We do not understand what INEC means by supplementary electi...