NIGERIA:… For The Presidency To Go To The Igbo In 2023 – Femi Aribisala

Igbo Presidency

Femi Aribisala has opined that if Nigeria were to survive the ticking time bomb of … 2019 presidential election, one of the prerequisites would be that there cannot be a Yoruba president in the country for at least another 20 years.

Aribisala in an article titled: ‘No Yoruba president in Nigeria for another 20 years’ said ‘before it can be the turn of a Yoruba man again, 20 years should elapse. This is the breakdown: 2015-2023: Northern president. 2023-2031: Igbo president. 2031-2038: Northern president. That is 20 years before you can get another Yoruba president from the South.

He also said that; ‘even the blind must know that it is in the interest of national unity and cohesion for the presidency to go to the Igbo in 2023, after a denial of over 50 years. In the intervening period, the other two major ethnic groups of the Hausa-Fulani and the Yoruba have had their share’

‘Any right-thinking Nigerian must see that it is not only high time for this to happen, it is essential for our national integration. It will also signal to all intents and purposes that, after 50 years, the civil war is finally truly over.’

Going further he said: ‘There is an unwritten understanding in this fourth Nigerian republic that the presidency should rotate between North and South. We started with Obasanjo, a Yoruba man from the South in 1999. That election was a straight contest between two Yoruba candidates; Obasanjo and Olu Falae. Obasanjo won that election and was president for 8 years.

Going further he said: ‘There is an unwritten understanding in this fourth Nigerian republic that the presidency should rotate between North and South. We started with Obasanjo, a Yoruba man from the South in 1999. That election was a straight contest between two Yoruba candidates; Obasanjo and Olu Falae. Obasanjo won that election and was president for 8 years.

‘Thereafter, it was the turn of the North and the 2007 election was essentially a Northern affair. Yar’adua ran primarily against Buhari and Atiku. He won but, unfortunately, he died in office after barely 2 years. Goodluck Jonathan, his vice-president, then became president. However, he was from the South, so there was hue and cry in the North that he had usurped the Northern slot deemed to be for 8 years.

Below are parts of the article

If Nigeria were to survive the ticking time bomb of … 2019 presidential election, one of the prerequisites would be that there cannot be a Yoruba president in the country for at least another 20 years. Otherwise, we would be further stoking the flames of disintegration. The Yoruba have provided the president in 8 of the last 20 years.

They have also held the vice-presidency for another 4 years. That will do for the next 20 years. Our country is the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not Oduduwa Republic of Nigeria. Neither is it the Federal Republic of the Hausa-Fulani and the Yoruba. Nigeria is bigger than the North-west and the South-west, no matter what the bogus population figures used for elections in these geopolitical regions indicate. Therefore, the choice of president cannot be reduced to a ding-dong between them.

Ethnic jingoism

During the 2019 election campaign, Vice-president Yemi Osibajo tried to seduce Yoruba votes for Buhari on the promise that their vote for him would be rewarded with the presidency in 2023. Since the election, a bogus group calling itself the Afenifere Renewal Group has also come out to say the Yoruba will produce the next president in 2023.

We have also witnessed already a lot of jockeying by self-styled Yoruba presidents-in-waiting for strategic positioning vis-à-vis the 2023 presidential election.

This is the height of deceit and irresponsibility.

What, if I may ask, did the Yoruba man-in-the-street get for having Obasanjo as president for 8 years? The answer is nothing: Zilch! Nada! Niente!

The people who are already projecting a Yoruba president in Nigeria for 2023 are charlatans. They are up to no good and only hankering after juicy appointments for themselves or their godfathers, the better to rob the country blind. Believe me, they could not care less about the Yoruba.

Ask the Almajiri in the North what they have benefitted from the last 4 years of Buhari’s presidency. If they are sincere, they will tell you it is also zilch, nada, niente! 

Moreover, I don’t remember Nigeria passing a constitutional amendment now zoning the presidency exclusively to the North-west and the South-west. These irresponsible people don’t mean Nigeria well. Their ethnic jingoism, greed and selfishness is part of what is killing Nigeria today.

Turn of Ndigbo

The democratic experiment has been ongoing now in this fourth republic in Nigeria for 20 years since 1999. In that period, the Yoruba have provided the president for 8 years and the vice-president for 4 years. In the unlikely event that the … results of the 2019 election are confirmed by the courts, by 2023, a Yoruba vice-president would have been in power for 8 years.

Therefore, it is preposterous to still insist that the same Yoruba should simply transition from vice-president to president in 2023. What then is to happen to the other ethnic groups in Southern Nigeria? When did they become consigned to be only the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the Yoruba?

The Igbo, one of the three major tribes in Nigeria, have provided neither president nor vice-president in the Fourth Republic. An Igbo man has only ever been head of state in Nigeria for merely six months, after which he was assassinated with extreme prejudice. Nigeria then fought a civil war for 3 years during which the Igbo made an unsuccessful attempt to secede. In that calamity, over a million Igbo were slaughtered and killed.

Accordingly, even the blind must know that it is in the interest of national unity and cohesion for the presidency to go to the Igbo in 2023, after a denial of over 50 years. In the intervening period, the other two major ethnic groups of the Hausa-Fulani and the Yoruba have had their share.

If federal character is an indelible principle of the Nigerian Constitution, that principle must also find expression at the presidential level. If it does not, it is tantamount to consigning the Igbo to the status of second-class citizens in their own country of Nigeria.

That is why the statements already making the rounds about a Yoruba president in 2023 needs to be stopped immediately before even the mere expression does irreparable damage to the fragile Nigerian psyche.

Rotational presidency

There is an unwritten understanding in this fourth Nigerian republic that the presidency should rotate between North and South. We started with Obasanjo, a Yoruba man from the South in 1999. That election was a straight contest between two Yoruba candidates; Obasanjo and Olu Falae. Obasanjo won that election and was president for 8 years.

Thereafter, it was the turn of the North and the 2007 election was essentially a Northern affair. Yar’adua ran primarily against Buhari and Atiku. He won but, unfortunately, he died in office after barely 2 years. Goodluck Jonathan, his vice-president, then became president. However, he was from the South, so there was hue and cry in the North that he had usurped the Northern slot deemed to be for 8 years.

Jonathan served for two years and was elected for another four years. Thereafter, the North cried enough and Buhari was elected to replace him.

The just-concluded 2019 election was also essentially a contest between two Northerners from the two major parties of the APC and the PDP: Buhari and Atiku. Whatever the conclusion of the tribunal about the fraudulent nature of that election, a Northerner would nevertheless have served as president for 8 years by 2023.

This means it will be the turn of a Southerner to be president again in 2023. That Southerner must, without controversy, be an Igbo man. Any right-thinking Nigerian must see that it is not only high time for this to happen, it is essential for our national integration. It will also signal to all intents and purposes that, after 50 years, the civil war is finally truly over.

So this is my reasoning. Before it can be the turn of a Yoruba man again, 20 years should elapse. This is the breakdown: 2015-2023: Northern president. 2023-2031: Igbo president. 2031-2038: Northern president. That is 20 years before you can get another Yoruba president from the South.

Even then, there is no guarantee that the 2038 president should be a Yoruba man. There are other tribes in the South that can also come into contention in that year. So, in the interest of national unity, 2023 is out of the question for the Yoruba.

SOURCE: VANGUARD

US Slaps Sanctions On North Korea After Sony Hack

Cars enter and depart from Sony Pictures Entertainment studio lot in Culver City, Calif. The U.S. is imposing sanctions on North Korea in retaliation for the cyberattack against Sony Pictures Entertainment. President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Friday authorizing the sanctions. Although the U.S. has already sanctioned North Korea over its nuclear program, these are the first sanctions punishing Pyongyang for alleged cyberattacks.

HONOLULU (AP) — Opening a new front in its cyber spat with North Korea, the United States slapped new sanctions Friday on government officials and the North's defense industry in its first public act of retribution for a cyberattack against Sony. Despite lingering doubts by the cyber community, the U.S. insisted that North Korea was to blame.

The White House warned that this was just the opening salvo in the U.S. response. While the fresh sanctions will have limited effect - North Korea already is under tough U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program - American officials portrayed the move as a swift and decisive response to North Korean behavior they said had gone far over the line. Never before has the U.S. imposed sanctions on another nation in direct retaliation for a cyberattack on an American company.

"The order is not targeted at the people of North Korea, but rather is aimed at the government of North Korea and its activities that threaten the United States and others," President Barack Obama wrote in a letter to House and Senate leaders.

With this round of sanctions, the U.S. also put North Korea on notice that payback need not be limited to those who perpetrated the attack. The 10 North Koreans singled out for sanctions didn't necessarily have anything to do with the attack on Sony, senior U.S. officials said. Anyone who works for or helps North Korea's government is now fair game, said the officials - especially North Korea's defense sector and spying operations.

The sanctions also apply to three organizations closely tied to North Korea's government: the country's primary intelligence agency, a state-owned arms dealer that exports missile and weapons technology, and the Korea Tangun Trading Corp., which supports defense research. All three of those entities were already subject to U.S. sanctions, so Friday's move against those groups appeared primarily symbolic.

Obama has also warned Pyongyang that the U.S. is considering whether to put North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, which could jeopardize aid to North Korea on a global scale. Beyond that, it's unclear what additional penalties the U.S. has in its arsenal.

North Korea has denied involvement in the cyberattack, which led to the disclosure of tens of thousands of confidential Sony emails and business files, then escalated to threats of terrorist attacks against movie theaters. Many cybersecurity experts have said it's entirely possible that hackers or even Sony insiders could be the culprits, not North Korea, and questioned how the FBI can point the finger so conclusively.

Senior U.S. officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, dismissed those arguments and said independent experts don't have access to the same classified information as the FBI. "We stand firmly behind our call that the DPRK was behind the attacks on Sony," one official said, using an acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Those sanctioned include North Koreans representing the country's interests in Iran, Russia and Syria. Any assets they have in the U.S. will be frozen, and they'll be barred from using the U.S. financial system. Americans will be prohibited from doing business with them, the Treasury Department said.

At the United Nations, no one answered the phone at North Korea's U.N. Mission, and calls to a diplomat there were not answered. Sony, too, declined to comment. While denying any role in a cyberattack, North Korea has expressed fury over the Sony comedy flick "The Interview," which depicts the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Sony initially called off the film's release after movie theaters decided not to show the film. After President Barack Obama criticized that decision, Sony decided to release the film in limited theaters and online.

The White House called the sanctions "the first aspect of our response" to the Sony attack - a declaration that raised fresh questions about who was behind a nearly 10-hour shutdown of North Korean websites last week. The shutdown prompted a blunt response from North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission, which blamed the U.S. and hurled racial slurs at Obama, calling him a reckless "monkey in a tropical forest."

Despite widespread speculation, the U.S. never said whether it was responsible for shutting down North Korea's Internet. But North Korea had a blunt response. Its powerful National Defense Commission blamed the outage directly on the U.S. and hurled racial slurs at Obama, calling him a reckless "monkey in a tropical forest."

On Friday, U.S. officials still wouldn't say who was responsible. They pointed out that there had been media reports suggesting North Korea shut down its own Internet. North Korea and the U.S. remain technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The rivals also are locked in an international standoff over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and its alleged human rights abuses.

Associated Press writer Nedra Pickler contributed to this report.

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Chicago, NY, Hawaii Compete To Host Obama Library

One possible location in the Kakaako district of Honolulu to be considered for the Barack Obama Presidential Library. Four universities in Chicago, New York and Honolulu are trying to outdo one another as they compete to host Barack Obama's future presidential library. Each is offering primo real estate, major financial backing and a grand vision for what the library should look like, and next week, a handful of Obama's oldest friends will start picking the winner. A look at what each school is proposing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three U.S. cities that President Barack Obama once called home are trying to outdo one another as the competition to host his future presidential library comes to a close.

Next week, a handful of Obama's oldest friends and associates will start judging proposals from two universities in Chicago and one each in New York and Honolulu, and by the end of March, Obama and the first lady will announce the winner. Knowing the future library will be a prominent tourist attraction and historical site, each community is offering Obama prime real estate, financial backing and grand visions for what his library could look like.

The Barack Obama Foundation has requested specifics on a host of items, including local zoning and transportation, architectural design and management plans. But the foundation's board, which includes Obama's sister and his former campaign manager, has made clear that a university's ability to help pay for the project will also be a factor.

All three cities' mayors are actively encouraging Obama to pick their communities. But the proposals, due next week, are confidential, and the competitors have been wary of tipping their hand by disclosing all the details.

Likewise, Obama has been careful to say no city has an advantage. But Chicago, where Obama rose to prominence and had his children, is believed to have an inside track. Chicagoans make up half of the foundation's board, and Michelle Obama's former chief of staff is running the bid by the University of Chicago, where Obama taught law before becoming president.

Only one city will host Obama's actual library, where government archivists will preserve his documents and artifacts. However, Obama could follow President Bill Clinton's model and house his library in one place and a presidential institute or foundation elsewhere.

That prospect has led all four universities to discuss possible collaborations, although each school is still expected to submit an independent bid for the entire project. A look at what each school is proposing:

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

 

The private school on Chicago's South Side is proposing to build in one of the poor neighborhoods bordering its campus in Hyde Park, near Obama's home. At least three proposed sites include Chicago park land, the park district's board chairman has said.

The university commissioned a study estimating the project would create 1,900 permanent jobs, with $220 million in annual economic impact and 800,000 annual visitors. Under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama's former chief of staff, the city has worked with both of the competing Chicago universities to explore possible transportation and infrastructure upgrades at the winning site.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO

 

The public university has proposed two sites on its Chicago campus, plus a third in North Lawndale, a heavily black neighborhood on the city's West side. That site would be in partnership with a community organization and would include a 23-acre park. The school's head librarian said a dozen university officials and volunteers worked on the proposal.

The school has sought to show how each location is intimately tied to Chicago's rich history on civil rights and community activism, hoping to tap into themes in Obama's life that the library would aim to highlight. Appealing to Obama's economic ideals, North Lawndale leaders are billing the site as a chance for Obama to help drive growth in an impoverished area.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

 

The Ivy League school where Obama attended college has said almost nothing about its proposal, and the university declined to answer questions. But in a statement, the university said it wants to put the library in Manhattanville, also known as West Harlem, where Columbia is currently expanding with a satellite campus.

People familiar with Columbia's proposal, who weren't authorized to comment publicly and demanded anonymity, said Columbia is also considering hosting just a part of the broader library project. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio seemed to suggest his city could be satisfied under that scenario when he told reporters at the White House this week, "We would obviously love to host a piece of it."

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII

 

The showpiece of Honolulu's proposal to build the library in Obama's birthplace is a 7-acre plot of undeveloped, oceanfront property in a gritty corner of Honolulu called Kakaako, not far from downtown and the hopping Waikiki tourist zone. Visitors would have panoramic views stretching from Diamond Head, Honolulu's iconic volcanic crater, to the island's lush, fog-tipped mountains.

Drawing on Obama's foreign policy emphasis on Asia, the university is pitching Hawaii as the ideal place for Obama to engage on global issues after the presidency, and wants to build a think tank and a young leadership academy into the project. The school has already raised money from Hawaii's legislature, residents and local companies.

Lester reported from Chicago.

AP-GfK Poll: Top Issues In The Midterm Election

Graphic shows results of AP-GfK poll on issues of concern to likely voters; 2c x 4 inches; 96.3 mm x 101 mm;

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's October and in some places, voters are already voting. The latest Associated Press-GfK poll finds those likely to cast a ballot are focused more on the economy than other issues. But that hasn't stopped campaigns from trying to appeal on other topics as well. Here's a look at what voters think on the top issues of the election cycle.

THE ECONOMY: The nation's economic blues remain at the top of voters' list of important issues. Asked to name the nation's biggest problem, 19 percent cite the economy, significantly higher than the 12 percent who name the next highest issue on the list, terrorism and national security. Among all adults, 4 in 10 approve of President Barack Obama's handling of the issue, a figure that's held steady since late last year.

Likely voters give Republicans a narrow edge as the party more trusted to handle the economy, 36 percent to 31 percent who favor the Democrats' approach. But six years after impressions of the economy took a negative turn from which public opinion has never recovered, a sizable 22 percent say they trust neither party on the issue. Overall, 62 percent of likely voters describe the economy as "poor," about the same as at this point in 2012, but better than 2010, when 79 percent of likely voters said it was in bad shape.

HEALTH CARE: Many expected Obama's signature domestic policy initiative to become a central topic in this year's campaigns, but the voters are less interested. Though 8 in 10 call health care an important issue for them personally, when asked to name the top issue facing the country, just 5 percent of likely voters named health care.

Public opinion on the law has been stagnant since the rollout of the state insurance exchanges a year ago. Overall, 25 percent of adults say they support the health care program, 40 percent oppose it, and 34 percent are neutral. About 6 in 10 say the law itself has been more of a failure than a success, . Among likely voters, there's more support for the health care overhaul (30 percent), but also more opposition (47 percent).

Those likely voters who call health care an extremely important issue are more closely divided than others on how the law's been working, though still fall mainly on the negative side of the line: 45 percent say it's been a success while 54 percent call it a failure.

IMMIGRATION: About two-thirds of likely voters call illegal immigration a serious problem for the United States today, and 8 percent name immigration or border security as the top issue facing the nation. Only 35 percent say they approve of Obama's handling of the issue.

Voters are generally in favor of providing a legal way for illegal immigrants already in the United States to become citizens, 53 percent back that, but that support rests heavily on Democratic likely voters, 75 percent of whom favor such a policy. Among Republicans who are most apt to mail in a ballot or show up at the polls, 33 percent favor it, along with 37 percent of independent likely voters.

THE THREAT OF TERRORISM: About 8 in 10 likely voters say terrorism is a key issue for them, with Republicans more apt than Democrats to consider it important. Overall, 83 percent of Republicans say the issue is important compared with 72 percent of Democrats. Similarly, 87 percent of Republicans consider the threat posed by the Islamic State group an important issue compared with 75 percent of Democrats. And although some have raised the possibility of security-focused women as a key to the election, there is no difference by gender on the importance of the issue.

Republicans have a 16-point advantage among likely voters as the party more trusted to protect the country, 39 percent vs. 23 percent, and it's one issue where the parties haven't lost quite as much faith among the public. Just 16 percent say they trust "neither" party to keep the nation safe, the lowest share on any issue tested in the poll.

SOCIAL ISSUES: Democrats hold their strongest advantages in the poll on issues such as abortion or same-sex marriage, yet these same issues land near the bottom of voters' priority lists. Asked in an open-ended question to name the most important issue currently facing the U.S., neither issue scored even 1 percent of responses. When asked how important each issue was personally, 43 percent of likely voters ranked abortion an important one, 32 percent said that about same-sex marriage.

Female likely voters are more likely to call both issues important. On abortion, 47 percent of women consider it important compared with 38 percent of men, and on same-sex marriage, 35 percent of women say it's a key issue compared with 28 percent of men.

The AP-GfK Poll was conducted September 25-29, 2014 using KnowledgePanel, GfK's probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. It involved online interviews with 1,845 adults, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for all respondents. Among 958 likely voters, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 points.

Respondents were first selected randomly using phone or mail survey methods, and later interviewed online. People selected for KnowledgePanel who didn't otherwise have access to the Internet were provided with the ability to access the Internet at no cost to them.

Online:

AP-GfK Poll: http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

The House Of Bush Father And Son Book Deal

Former Presidents George H. W. Bush, right, and George W. Bush before the Houston Texans NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers in Houston. George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush are cooperating with a historian for a joint biography about the former presidents. “Presidents Bush: A Portrait of a Father and Son,” by Mark K. Updegrove, has been acquired by Henry Holt and Company. The book is scheduled for Spring 2016. Image: AP

Babangida Aliyu And 2015 Presidency

Niger State governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, last week perhaps confirmed the speculations of pundits that he is indeed interested in the presidency come 2015.

Aliyu, leader of the Northern Governors’ Forum last week in what could be summed as the justification behind his ambition declared that President Goodluck Jonathan reached an agreement in 2011 with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders and governors to serve only one term as president.

This declaration was made last week Saturday during a live radio programme, Guest of the Week, on Liberty Radio (91.7), Kaduna, has already ignited the race towards the 2015 presidential poll, as the governor had now become one of those to watch.

Aliyu during the media chat said the rumoured interest of Jonathan in seeking a second term in 2015 should be taken as a mere speculation.

His word: “I recall that at the time he was going to declare for the 2011 election, all the PDP governors were brought together to ensure that we were all in the same frame of mind.
“And I recall that some of us said given the circumstances of the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua and given the PDP zoning arrangement, it was expected that the North was to produce the president for a given number of years.

“I recall that at that discussion, it was agreed that Jonathan would serve only one term of four years and we all signed the agreement.

Even when Jonathan went to Kampala, in Uganda, he also said he was going to serve a single term. “For now, President Jonathan has not declared a second term ambition and we must not be speculating based on those who are benefiting from the campaign.

“I think we are all gentlemen enough so when the time comes, we will all come together and see what is the right thing to do.” Meanwhile, the presidency has denied Aliyu’s comments that PDP governors signed an agreement with President Goodluck Jonathan prior to the 2011 presidential elections that he would only run for a single term.

Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, who made the presidency’s position known in Abuja stated that Jonathan did not sign any agreement with anyone and advised the governor who is rumoured to be nursing a presidential ambition to go about his pursuit without making what he called “frivolous allegations” against the President.

He said, “President Goodluck Jonathan did not win the presidential election in Governor Aliyu’s state, Niger. Anybody who has a presidential ambition, it is such a person’s constitutional right to have ambition.

Aliyu’s comments came at a time there were speculations that the party was planning to foist the candidacy of Jonathan on the party and make him the sole candidate of the PDP for the 2015 poll. In that case, the party would skip primary election for that office.
It has been alleged that the party’s top hierarchy of the party had agreed to amend its constitution to accommodate the new thinking. But denying the speculation, the party’s national publicity secretary, Mr Olisa Metuh, said there is no truth in the account.
He said: “I can tell you that under the constitution of this party, and the way we run our programmes, we are going to have primaries in 2015. We are completely unaware of any move to change the constitution of the party.

“The constitution that we have, which was passed at the last national convention, provides that we must have state and national convention.” Metuh, however, maintained that party could amend its constitution if it wanted to do so.

According to him, “A constitution can be amended at any time if the members decide to do so, or when the need arises.

I’m just telling you what the law is at the moment. Even the constitution of the country is being amended; the constitution of the party can be amended if they (party leaders) decide to.”

It will however be recalled that in July 2011,President Jonathan indicated that he would be sending a bill to the National Assembly to elongate the tenure of office of the President and Governors from the present four years.

As against the fouryear term elected officers currently enjoy, the bill would propose a single term of six years for the President and Governors. It was also stated that President Jonathan’s tenure would not be affected as the amendment would only take effect from 2015

According to a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, the proposed bill “is borne out of a patriotic zeal, after a painstaking study and belief that the constitutionally guaranteed two terms for Presidents and Governors is not helping the focus of governance and institutionalization of democracy at this stage of our development.”
It was also contained in the statement that the President is “concerned about the acrimony which the issue of re-election every four years generates both at Federal and state levels.”
It will also be recalled that discordant tunes trailed Jonathan’s proposal of a sixyear single term as many suspected the president had hidden agenda.

Former governor of old Kaduna state, Alhaji Balarabe Musa at the wake of the proposal said if accepted, the proposal could alter the 2015 elections. “If his proposal is accepted, you will be surprised that before 2015, he will declare another intention to declare for 2015 Presidency.

If the PDP could not accept the zoning system, they would definitely not accept excluding Jonathan in 2015. “So, what will happen is that just like he did in 2011, he will do in 2015. He has not demonstrated any confidence that he will complete his current tenure and he is already talking about 2015.

This government is controlled by money powers. “He could want to use money to achieve his agenda but Nigerians should ensure he doesn’t bastardise our constitution and Nigeria’s politics. He has already bribed the governors and the National Assembly by saying they too should benefit and that tells you he has a hidden agenda.”

In his own view, the governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Niger State during the last general election, governorship candidate in Niger State, Bawa Bwari, said the problem with the six year- single tenure has to do with elongation, and not the concept.

“It’s the elongation there that is the problem. What do you want me to say? For any responsible government, there are so many issues that should be a priority.

This issue of single term tenure is a distraction. If it’s for patriotic reasons, it will be good but there is a question mark for first term governors.

Secondly, Nigerians don’t trust Jonathan because of what happened with zoning. People will not believe he is doing it for patriotic reasons.” Aliyu overtime, according to analysts been seen a predictable voice among the Northern governors against the second term ambition of Jonathan.

In May last year, The 19 northern governors including Aliyu defended the Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, in the last poll Major- General Muhammadu Buhari, on the latter’ s comment on Jonathan’s administration.

Buhari’s party had described the Jonathan administration as the “most corrupt ever,” in response to the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party’s attacks on his person over a comment in which the retired General threatened bloodshed in 2015 if the government dared rig the elections.

The northern governors said Buhari’s comment was in order, observing some other Nigerians had made worse comments. Aliyu, during a question-and-answer session with journalists after the Forum’s meeting in Kaduna, noted that Buhari had only sought to keep the Federal Government on its toes in order to ensure a freeand- fair election in 2015.
He noted that Buhari’s statement was subject to different interpretation and cautioned eminent Nigerians against further inflammatory statements that could heat up the polity.
He said, “In a democratic system every individual has his ways and there are many of us whose ways of communication are quite different from others. Give the same statement to somebody, he may have used a different vocabulary.

“Again, certain facts are understood, that if this happens that would happen, I think it is a natural thing to do. Maybe those who may be too concerned have not looked at what other eminent Nigerians have been talking about.

“I saw one that said Nigeria is going to be Somalianised. I saw another one who has been talking like there would be war tomorrow. That statement should be taken on its own value.
“All of us who are involved in elections political parties, contestants and voters themselves – we must all be careful so that there would be a semblance of good in whatever we do.

But, again, like I said, certain people are so much in that position, they should be careful with certain vocabularies they use. So, both ways let’s take it on our own strides and ensure that future elections are seemed to be transparent and are seemed to be good.”

Aliyu’s outburst makes him the second governor being viewed as eyeing the presidency after his Jigawa State counterpart, Sule Lamido, who is said to have been nominated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The former President, it was gathered had also tipped Governor Rotimi Amaechi as Lamido’s running mate.

It will however be recalled that last month, Aliyu said that he had not declared for the 2015 presidency and also dismissed the purported commencement of his presidential campaign as untrue.

He made the clarification in Minna when he received the Ethiopian Ambassador in Nigeria, Mr Ali Abdul Sulaiman, and the new Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Musibau Akanbi.

He disclosed that the PDP at the national level had barred aspirants from all campaigns for the 2015 general elections till 2014, adding that he was complying with the directive as a loyal party member and law abiding citizen.

He explained that it was the National Youth Leader of the party, Alhaji Garba Umaru, who incidentally was from Niger, who led a delegation to Plateau to thank the PDP members in that state for voting for him during the national convention of the party.

“This has now been misconstrued as a presidential campaign flag off by me,’’ the governor said. At that time, Aliyu, said his clarification of the situation was not an indication that he was afraid to contest for the presidency when the time comes.

“If it is God’s will that I would come out, believe me I am not afraid I will come out because what will be will be but I am not out yet.’’

Malawi: Banda Sworn In As President

VOA News

Malawi's vice president, Joyce Banda, was sworn in as president Saturday in the capital, Lilongwe, following confirmation that President Bingu wa Mutharika died suddenly on Thursday.

Ms. Banda, who is Malawi's first female president, was expelled from the ruling party in 2010. But she kept the vice presidency and now ascends to the presidency by constitutional mandate. In her inaugural speech Saturday she called for unity, saying “there is no room for revenge.”

She said she had a good meeting with the cabinet earlier in the day and called the discussion a starting point for healing the wounds of the nation. And she thanked all Malawians for respecting a peaceful transition to the presidency.

Though President Mutharika had his fatal heart attack on Thursday, the government delayed official confirmation of the death until Saturday, while rumor and unconfirmed reports circulated. The delay gave rise to concerns that the late president's supporters were maneuvering to install a member of the ruling party as president.

President Banda has announced that the nation will observe 10 days of mourning, during which flags will fly at half-staff and broadcasters are asked to play somber music.

Mr. Mutharika died of a heart attack he suffered at home on Thursday, despite emergency treatment at a hospital in the capital, Lilongwe.

He was elected president of Malawi in 2004 and won a second term in 2009. Once hailed as a leader in improving food security in African countries, he fell out of favor after suppressing anti-government protests in July. Nineteen people died in the violence.

An economist by education, Mr. Mutharika was a World Bank official before working his way up through the ranks of Malawi's government. He formed the Democratic Progressive Party, which now has majority control over parliament.