Jonathan submits handover notes to Buhari

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President Goodluck Jonathan has ‎presented an executive summary of his handover notes to Muhammadu Buhari, his successor, saying he has done his best for the country.

The presentation was done inside the council chamber of the presidential villa. 

Reading a 15-page speech during the occasion, Jonathan said ‎the notes would help to be of great assistance to Buhari’s administration. 

“‎This will give you a mission statement of the commitment of this government for the past five years and the directions we are going that will help you to navigate,” he said. 

“So it is my pleasure on behalf of the vice-president, members of the executive council and other senior functionaries to formally hand over these handover notes to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the president-elect who will assume office tomorrow.” 

Jonathan also gave Buhari a copy of the national conference report, describing it as more important than the handover notes. 

“‎There is another document that I will hand over to you. To me, this is more important than the handover notes,” he said. “This is a document that was compiled by Nigerians, the report of the national conference 2014. We gathered almost 500 Nigerians from all walks of life, they were not influenced by government in any way. And most of the recommendations here, if it is followed, most of the gray areas, even in our politics, will smoothen out. 

“Most of the areas where people complain bitterly, like corruption, everything in this document deal‎s with them. Some people here were members of that great body of about 500 eggheads. 

“We were unable to implement because of the shortness of time. We have sent a copy to the national assembly, but it is a document that we are very hopeful that your government will look into and give it the attention it requires.

” Some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) witnessed the event. While receiving the notes, Buhari said he would not comment on them yet, but commended Jonathan for conceding the March 28 presidential election. 

He said Jonathan could have made things difficult if he wanted to do so. “Until I read and digest these notes from the president, I don’t think I will be in a position to make any strong contribution,” he said. 

“But what I will say is since the telephone call you made, you have changed the course of Nigeria’s political history. For that, you have earned yourself a place in our history, for stabilising this system of multi-party democracy and you have earned the respect of not only Nigerians but world leaders. 

“All the leaders that spoke to me and congratulated us for arriving at the point we arrived, mentioned this and I could understand a lot of relief in their voices that Nigeria has made it, after all, and this is largely owed to a situation. 

“If you had wanted to make things difficult, you could have made things difficult and that would have been at the expense of lives of poor Nigerians, but you chose the part of honour and may God help all of us. Thank you very much, your Excellency.

” Earlier, Jonathan took Buhari on a tour of the presidential villa, just as Vice-president Namadi Sambo took‎ Yemi Osinbajo, the vice president-elect, on a tour of the vice-presidential wing of Aso Rock.

Buhari tours Aso Rock with Pres Jonathan

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President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, who returned from a trip to the United Kingdom (UK) on Thursday, is currently touring the presidential villa with outgoing president, Goodluck Jonathan.

The president-elect arrived at the villa about 11 am after arriving the country hours earlier and had a closed-door meeting with Jonathan, before the tour commenced. 

Buhari last week left Nigeria‎ for the UK where he met with David Cameron, the British prime minister. 

His inauguration as president of Nigeria on Friday will be attended by about 50 heads of state. 

The tour was announced two weeks ago as part of activities heralding Buhari’s inauguration as president. 

“On the 28th, President Jonathan will conduct Gen. Buhari and the vice president-elect, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, round the villa‎.” Gabriel Suswam, governor of Benue state, had told the media on May 12 after the National Council of State meeting, 

It was also at that briefing that Babangida Aliyu, governor of Niger state, clarified the confusion over “handover”, fixed for May 28, and “inauguration”, slated for the following day. 

“It is only a technicality. One is inauguration, the formality of the new president taking over. Technically, the 29th is for the new man taking over,” Aliyu said. 

“For the handover of documents, you don’t wait till that 29th because after the inauguration the transition committee may continue.

Army ‘fires’ 200 soldiers for B’Haram cowardice

 

The Nigerian army has sacked 200 soldiers from the force, following claims that the soldiers fled from the battlefront while Boko Haram advanced.

According to BBC Hausa service, the soldiers were sacked this week after allegations that they fled Mubi in November 2014, while Boko Haram took the town.

A military source had told TheCable that as many as 4,000 soldiers were to be dismissed from the force, with the military hoping to “rid the force of cowardice in all its rank and file”.

They recently-dismissed soldiers insist they are being unfairly targeted, saying they were dismissed without appearing before a court martial.

They add that their failure to fight is because they lacked the weapons to match Boko Haram’s firepower.

Earlier, one of the soldiers to be dismissed had told TheCable that they were to be dismissed without trial.

“We are accused of disobeying orders to fight insurgents and also for allowing them to takeover Mubi town the last time. The army headquarters sent signal for our dismissal,” he had said.
Many of the soldiers – dismissed and sentenced to death – are hoping that the incoming administration of Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general, would reverse all the recent deeds of the military, according to their lawyer, Femi Falana.

“So happily the incoming government of Gen Muhammadu Buhari has promised to review the entire operations in the north-east region and we are confident that the cases of the officers and the soldiers will be reviewed so that justice will be done to them,” he said last week.

Pres Jonathan ‘ends feud’ with Obasanjo

President Goodluck Jonathan seems to have improved on his relationship with former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, after sending him a rare message of commiseration on the death of his sister, Adunni Oluniola Eweje-Obasanjo.
Since Obasanjo’s letter to the president went viral in December 2013, the president stopped all forms of felicitation or commiseration with the former head of state.
Before then, though, Jonathan had “nothing but the greatest respect for Obasanjo” and he had said he would not probe his benefactor.
“The president has nothing but the greatest respect for Chief Obasanjo’s very notable contributions to national growth and development over many years and far from taking offence or seeking retaliation, will always welcome objective criticism and advice from the very highly-regarded elder statesman,” Reuben Abati, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, wrote in 2013.
Evidence of a sour relationship between the duo came to fore in December, when Abati, speaking for Jonathan, said Obasanjo’s letter was “mischievous, provocative and self-serving”.
Jonathan ordered his aides not to join issues with the 78-year-old retired general, saying he himself would respond appropriately.
“The president himself will, at the appropriate time, offer a full personal response to the most reckless, baseless, unjustifiable and indecorous charges levied against him and his administration by the former head of state.”
Jonathan conspicuously avoided sending public wishes to Obasanjo on his birthdays in 2014 and 2015, against his tradition in the previous years.
In 2015, Jonathan sacked Martin Luther Agwai as chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) for preaching “change” at Obasanjo’s 78th birthday in March.
The latest commiseration with Obasanjo suggests that the bad blood between the two presidents has become history.
“The president joins Chief Obasanjo and his family in mourning the late Madam Eweje-Obasanjo who passed away recently at the age of 76,” the commiseration message read in part.
“As they mourn her, President Jonathan urges Chief Obasanjo and his family to be consoled by the knowledge that his late sister lived a worthy and very fulfilled life in the service of her family and community.
“The President prays that God will grant Chief Obasanjo and his family the fortitude to bear the loss of Madam Eweje-Obasanjo. He similarly prays that God will receive Madam Eweje-Obasanjo’s soul and grant her eternal rest.”
Jonathan and Obasanjo both attended the last council of states meeting, which Obasanjo had boycotted since falling out with the outgoing president.

Photos from Governor Amaechi's 50th birthday celebration

Governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi turned 50 today and some of his friends threw him a party. Kaduna state Govenor elect, Nasir El Rufai, Hon Abike Dabiri, Senator Magnus Abe and others were some of the special guest at the event. See more photos after the cut..

Source: LIB