Michael Ojuroye Initiative (Ngo)

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo There are strong indications that efforts by the Peoples Democratic Party to make former President Olusegun Obasanjo to have a rethink  on his decision to stay away from the party’s activities  have failed.  Investigations on Thursday showed that Obasanjo insisted when the new PDP National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu visited him on January 26, that Jonathan  must  honour his alleged promise in 2011 not to contest the 2015 presidential election. A very reliable  PDP national officer  confided in  The PUNCH that  Obasanjo also  gave  other conditions that the new leadership of the party must meet before he would have a change of mind.  They include the restructuring of the party as well as   the correction of the  anomalies relating to the removal of Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the national secretary of the PDP  and Bode Mustapha  as  national auditor in early...

Governor Rotimi Amaechi and President Goodluck Jonathan President Goodluck Jonathan may meet the Governor of Rivers State Mr. Rotimi Amaechi soon,  Mic's Blog  has learnt A source at the meeting the President had with the governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party  at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday night, disclosed this to our correspondent. Going by the tune of the meeting, the source said the President might initiate a meeting with Amaechi soon. The source, who is close to the President, told our correspondent that the President was asked to make peace with anyone capable of helping him to win the 2015 presidential election. This, he said, was one of the decisions reached at the meeting between the PDP governors and the President. The source, who was one of the governors at the meeting, told our correspondent that the expected meeting with Amaechi might start with the leadership of the party. “The President, at the meeting, was ma...

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar The Inspector-General of Police,Mohammed Abubakar, on Friday in Lagos said the force was set for the 2015 general elections both in terms of personnel and equipment. Abubakar said this when he briefed the press on the police preparation for the elections during the Pull-Out Parade of seven senior police officers at the Ikeja Police College. He said that many officers had undergone training and some were still currently on training in different centres, including anti-terrorism training. The I-G said that the force had taken delivery of different equipment that would help it provide adequate security during and after elections in 2015. On the posting of Mr Joseph Mbu, the former Commissioner of police in Rivers, Abubakar said that there was nothing special about it. He said the posting was part of routine movement of officers and men. “Mbu’s redeployment is just routine in the force to move officers and men to beef up security s...

Steve McQueen: "The film creates such interesting, stimulating debate... it's been a privilege" The film, “12 Years a Slave” has received a pre-Oscars boost by winning the most prizes at the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards in London. It was named film of the year, while Chiwetel Ejiofor won actor of the year, and co-star Lupita Nyong’o won best supporting actress. British director Steve McQueen said he had “felt so much love for this film in this country”. The awards took place exactly four weeks before the Oscars in Hollywood. 12 Years a Slave is considered the front-runner for best picture, and it has nine nominations in total, including McQueen for best director. It also has 10 nominations for the Bafta Film Awards, two weeks away on 16 February. The London Critics’ Circle ceremony, at London’s May Fair Hotel on Sunday, began on a sombre note as news broke of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death in New York. When film critic Jason Solomons opened the awards by...

The All Progressives Congress on Wednesday began fresh registration of members nationwide, with reports from many states saying the exercise could not start due to logistic problems. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that many states experienced late arrival of materials while in others the training of personnel was still going on at the time of filing this report. In Sokoto State, NAN reports that registration materials were handed over to 23 local governments’ caretaker committee chairmen of the party in the state on Wednesday. The nine-man committee in each of the 23 local governments was saddled with the responsibility of handling the registration at the council level. The Chairman of the Registration Committee in the state, Alhaji Nasiru Dantiye, told NAN the party would conform with the registration guidelines set out by the national headquarters. Dantiye said APC was determined to ensure that the 10-day exercise was conducted in conformity with the nation’s constitution In ...

President Jonathan &   former President Olusegun Obasanjo The 22nd Assembly of African Union Heads of State and Government on Thursday began a two-day Summit with the crises in South Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR) taking centre stage. The News Agency of Nigeria,(NAN) reports that the Summit is being attended by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, former President Olusegun Obasanjo,and Former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. President Jonathan is leading a delegation of seven members of the Federal Executive Council, including the two ministers of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Works, Health, Justice and Water Resources. The Summit with the theme, 2014, Africa’s Year of Agriculture and Food Security was declared opened by the out-going Chairperson and Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Dessalegn. He said the union was concerned by the continued crises in the two countries. Dessalegn urged leaders to deliberate on the crises and resolve on the bes...

Goodluck T he  Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak has challenged the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, and the media community to focus on critical issues that will determine the agenda for the 2015 general elections rather than concentrate on bashing President Goodluck Jonathan and threatening mayhem, if the election results did not favour them. Gulak said the mass media was making itself a willing tool in the hands of the political opportunists in APC, whose stock in trade was to abuse the office and person of Mr. President because they had nothing to offer Nigeria. In a telephone interview in Lagos, yesterday, Gulak said: “I hold the media in highest esteem and I expect them to be guided by the ethics of their profession, to be fair to all sides.” Follow us on Twitter: Click here On Facebook:   Click here Add on BBM: 2860E881 or 7C80F17E