actress deepika

Ahmed says he had his first homosexual experience when he was 15 years old: “I discovered that I am more attracted to the same sex individual than the female folk. So, any government that would not allow me to exercise my fundamental rights is not a responsible government.”
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/06/nigerian-law-is-against-our-fundamental-rights-gays/#sthash.vViBXdaU.dpuf

In a release made available to DailyPost, Dike had said that those photos did not originate from her, as they were originally sent to her instagram page on her birthday. She denied that those pictures were real, arguing that they were mere birthday designs made by a fan, which she responded with a “thank you” message.Tonto stressed that in as much as she would have loved to remain mum over the matter, the magnitude of the rumour called for some clarification.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has condemned Nigeria's same-sex marriage bill which sets prison terms of up to 14 years.
The bill, which was approved by Nigeria's lawmakers last month but has yet to be signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan, also states that any person involved in gay clubs or organisations "shall be liable to a term of 10 years imprisonment."
It is already illegal to have gay sex in the country and homosexuals say they often suffer abuse.
Navi Pillay was taking questions from around the world on the BBC's World Have Your Say programme.SEE MORE

Rap Mogul-Jay-Z is hitting back at those who claim he is part of a secret cult-Illuminati. In his new song “Heaven,” Hov raps about his thoughts on religion and the nutty haters tho think he had to sign his soul over the devil to gain power.

On the song, Jay-Z talks about a conspiracy theorist who say he doesn’t believe human beings can work hard to attain wealth, but blame it all on joining the Illuminati and secret shady organizations that run the world.
In the same song, Hov raps about how he thinks religion separates rather then unifies. He adds that people should question certain aspects of religion and God, since some elements of it may cause destruction to the human race and way of life.

Mr Sall said Senegal was a "very tolerant" country but it was "not ready to decriminalise homosexuality".
'Not homophobic'

If your daughter is pregnant, Google will know it before you do.
If your boyfriend has a STD (Sexually transmitted diseases) Google will know it before you do. If a country is planning to build a new bridge or a railroad, Google knows about the project well before anyone else. If a company is looking for new partners abroad, Google will know about the project detail long before anyone else. If a group of activists is preparing a street protest, Google will know about the plan long before the local authorities will ever heard about it.

How is that possible, you may ask.
Simple. The first thing people do nowadays when they have an issue is to search it on the Internet using a search engine like Google.
Google records all your search keywords, but also use about 19 different checkpoints to make sure the search is tied to one single computer and one single person. If you have a Gmail account or Youtube account, you make thing much easier for Google.
How does it work?
If your teenager-daughter has her first menstruation, and want to know more about how to deal with it, she will go to Google to conduct a search. Now Google knows that your daughter has her first menstruation, before you’ll ever know.
If your girlfriend missed her menstruation for several days this month, and she is wondering if she got pregnant, she will go to Google and type something like “how to know if I’m pregnant”. From that moment,  Google knows that your girlfriend has missed her menstruation and possibly pregnant.

You know, just like Tonto Dikeh, Cossy is also a Nollywood actress turned singer.
So during the weekend, Cossy was in Bayelsa, at the Rch Park Hotel, where she performed her songs during the Blue Chance Fashion Show.
As the show warmed up, so did Cossy's "orange"ies, for her fans' viewing pleasure. She is pictured above with Benita Nzeribe and Eedris Abdulkareem.
More pics after the cut.

The leader of the Boko Haram sect Imam Abubakar Shekau hails from Niger Republic, according to the report of a Senate joint committee that investigated the deadly violence in Baga town of Borno State in April.
Shekau is widely believed to be from Shekau village of Yobe State, but the Senate committee in its report submitted yesterday said Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima told visiting senators that the man was actually from the neighbouring Republic of Niger.

Well-known political critic, Junaid Muhammad, has called fresh attention to recent developments in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the national level, warning that they are snowballing into a full blown governmental and security crises in Rivers State.

And he brought the First Lady under the hammer for her role in the chaos.
In a press statement issued today in Kano on Wednesday, Dr. Muhammad described Rivers as “coming to the limelight because of the irresponsible, unconstitutional and bizarre, illiterate actions, of the so called first lady Mrs. Patience Jonathan, who hails from the island village of Okrika in Rivers State and who sees not only Okrika but the whole of Rivers States, as her personal domain to exploit, abuse and destabilize as she sees fit because her husband Jonathan happens to be the president.”
He noted that the Nigerian constitution makes no provision whatsoever for the post of First Lady and confers no rights, privileges and/or responsibilities on spouses of our president or heads of governments.
“It is therefore illegal and completely ultra vires the constitution for any citizen, president or his spouse to usurp executive powers, and go about throwing their weight, as if they were legally recognized holders of such offices according to the law,” he warned.  “ As at the time of writing, the commissioner of police in Rivers, his command structure and other security services are at the command of Patience Jonathan, and by her and presidential orders, most security facilities due governor, the speaker and others so entitled, have been withdrawn. Mean-while professional thugs and all manner of criminals are being recruited and pressed into service to destabilize the elected government of Rivers State.”
Stressing that those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat its mistakes, Dr. Muhammad pointed out that current developments in the PDP and especially in Rivers State bear an uncanny resemblance to the old Western Region, which led to the collapse of the first republic, with very serious and bloody consequences. Then and now, the popularly elected leaders of those parts of the country were prevented from exercising political power and control, and the operations of the police, the army and the rump of security services were interfered with in a brazen political manner.
“The current CP Rivers, is bending over backwards to accommodate the president, his cronies and his illiterate wife, to ignore or pervert the law and the constitution and norms of decent political behavior,  to harass, intimidate Governor Rotimi Amaechi, and thus destabilize, a strategic state like Rivers. Those in the PDP who imagine that this serious and fundamental crisis can be contained by some band aid or artificial cordon sanitaire, have a shocker awaiting them,” he said.
He noted that the overriding attitude of PDP leadership, the PDP president, his cronies etc. is an open invitation to anarchy, for his party, his tottering crisis prone government and most unfortunately for Nigeria.
“The preponderance of the PDP in the governing processes is a clear and present danger to democracy,” the statement said.  “Add to that the dictatorial proclivities of the party leadership and penchant for hand picking illiterates and corrupt thugs into key and sensitive positions; you have the making of an inevitable disaster.”
Dr. Muhammad stressed that the latest developments throw into doubt the very possibilities of elections in 2015, those elections being the very reason for the desperate manouvres now being undertaken.
“If the de-facto commander–in-chief, the de-facto defence Minister and army commander Gen. Ihejirika who is an in-law to Patience [Jonathan], and his police and S.S.S. counterparts, are behaving in openly political partisan manner as heads of Jonathan’s personal militia, it goes without saying that Jega’s INEC will hold no elections worth the name,” he declared, calling on all Nigerians who cherish democracy to stand up and be counted.
He stressed that Rivers State and the fate of its governor must be of enormous concern to all democrats and patriots, pointing out that within Rivers State and beyond it, evil thrives when good and decent people take their eyes off the ball or pretend it is of no concern to them or is unrelated to neighborhoods.
“Personally I do not know and have never met Gov. Rotimi Amaechi in person, in Port Harcourt or anywhere else on earth,” he declared.  “I have not been to Rivers State since the expiry of my national service in the defunct OMPADEC (now NDDC) in 1996. I am however invested in Amaechi’s struggles because I believe democracy is the only way to govern a free people rationally, and to exercise legitimate power over a free people. If the PDP and its incompetent president treat this country like a conquered and vanquished people, they must be cured of their delusion, soonest.”

He was arrested over a fake currency which he usedin paying for his drinks. Just like in Napel, David had few mins concert on the 21st andhe shook the ground as always. He performed for about 10 mins and decided to pull a Rihanna by showing up late and perform at about 5am. You remember on our last gossips, he did the same thing in Napel. This made the Nigerian born organizer, Osariemen Ekiudoko Frank angry and led to his refusal to pay Davido the balance possibly led to Davido being stranded in the strange land. According to
sources,

In a PremiumTimes video of a speech given by former president of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings at the  Conference On Emerging Democracies In Africa: Challenges And Opportunities, which held June 17, at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, Nigeria, the president went hard on corruption in Nigeria, describing a lonely battle of a few great men of Nigeria and Ghana who battle corruption while being persecuted by “oga’s at the top.”

Despite the government’s frown on the illicit affair of same s*x, and many praying and fasting to see an end to the sudden surge in lésbianism in Nigeria`s movie industry, one of the actresses in Nollywood, Vivian Pius, has confessed that lésbianism is a norm in Nollywood that is not going to stop soon.

“Lésbianism has come to stay in Nollywood. Though it exists in other industries such as banking, medical and others, that of Nollywood is more open to the public because of who we are, as a society`s role models.
It has come to be seen as a cartel where those who belong to a group find it easier getting movie roles. Some of them can even make you rich overnight beyond your expectation. Those who are in it and know their onions can tell you better.
They get the best of jobs and are richer driving in big cars and seeing at the best of places. The same thing goes for the homoséxuals.
The industry has become what many of us never dreamed of, going the way of Hollywood and other European movie industries. It is also in Alaba International Market. They control the industry. It is all about packaging. But there is still hope that those who are not patronizing them will still make it in Nollywood,”
Vivien, who was spotted on the set of Simone’s Production in Festac, Lagos said

Homophobic attacks have reached dangerous levels in sub-Saharan Africa and must stop, Amnesty International has said in a report.
Goverments in Africa are everyday bring out new laws and draconian penalties to make it sure and clear that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are criminals, the report says.
Some of African leader state that homosexuality is un-African which made the western world threaten to withdraw from any country which did not give gay people there right of freedom to be and marry

However, Amnesty said US religious groups “actively fund and promote homophobia in Africa”, while many of the laws were inherited from the colonial era
Amnesty interview
Homosexual acts are still a crime in 38 sub-Saharan African countries it said in a report titled “Making Love a Crime: Criminalisation of same-sex conduct in sub-Saharan Africa”.
There is no specific legislation outlawing homosexual acts in 12 African countries, mostly former French colonies, while gay rights are recognised in South Africa.
In the last five years, South Sudan and Burundi have introduced new laws criminalising same-sex relations, it says.
The parliaments of Uganda, Liberia and Nigeria have draft laws before them, seeking to increase penalties.
“These poisonous laws must be repealed and the human rights of all Africans upheld,” Amnesty said.
“In some African countries political leaders target sexual orientation issues to distract attention from their overall human rights records, often marked by rampant discrimination and violence against women, corruption and lack of media freedoms,” it added.
In South Africa, at least seven people, five of them lesbians, were murdered between June and November 2012 in what appears to have been targeted violence related to their sexual orientation or gender identity, the report says.
This is despite the fact that homosexual acts are not illegal in South Africa and the country boasts one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, it adds.
In many instances, media reports also inflame hostility towards people not conforming to heterosexual norms, Amnesty says.
In 2010, Uganda’s Rolling Stone magazine published a photograph of gay rights activist David Kato next to a headline reading “Hang Them”, it says.
Just a month later, he was killed in his home, although the police have denied it was a hate crime.
In Cameroon, people are regularly arrested after being denounced as being gay or lesbian because of their “appearance or conjecture, rather than evidence”, Amnesty says.
Some individuals accused of same sex conduct in Cameroon have been imprisoned for three years without trial or charge, it adds.
Former detainees from Cameroon told Amnesty that they were subjected to “invasive procedures such as forced anal exams” while in custody, the report says.
In Kenya, people told Amnesty that sometimes the police threaten to arrest them under provisions in the penal code related to same-sex relations in order to obtain a bribe, the report adds.
“Extortionists also use the existence of these laws to demand money or goods in exchange for not revealing real or even made-up private details to the media, community or police,” Amnesty said.

The Lagos State Special Anti-robbery Squad has killed seven suspected kidnappers and arrested two others during a cross fire in Agbara area of Ogun State, southwest Nigeria.
Police alleged that the suspects were behind the kidnap of Lagos politician Kehinde Bamigbetan, Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area in Lagos State, southwest Nigeria.
Police said the arrested suspects are 27-year old Ogbonna Emenike and 25-year old Uchenna Nwanyu. The shootout took place at the weekend.
The items recovered from the suspects include four AK 47 Rifles, twenty-Eight AK 47 Magazine fully loaded and a thousand round of live ammunition. Others are army uniforms, a Honda CRV jeep with Reg No.ABC106AE and a Nissan Pathfinder Reg No.AGL730AZ as well as local charms.
The officer in charge of SARS said: “when I received the information about their hideout in Agbara in Ogun State, I quickly mobilised my men to their camp where they lodged.
“After 72hours of waiting in ambush, I and my squadron team stormed the place where all the kidnappers have gathered around 6.30 a.m. on 24/06/2013.
“As a result of this, seven of the kidnappers were fatally wounded during a heavy gun battle between the kidnappers and my men.
“Two of the kidnappers one Ogbonna Emenike and Uchenna Nnwayu were arrested alive with bullet wound.
“Also an Indian National one Mr. Vivex Changrani who was kidnapped in Ikoyi, at about 12 a.m. was also rescued successfully in the kidnappers’ hideout.”
The Lagos State commissioner of Police Mr. Umar Abubakar Manko warned other kidnappers to flee Lagos.
“Criminals will not have comfort in Lagos. Lagos is not a comfort zone. My advice (for criminals) is to go away from Lagos,” Manko said.
Bamigbetan was kidnapped in April by unidentified gunmen while he was about to enter his street, Ona Iwa Mimo, Ori-Oke near Egbe bridge in Ejigbo.
He was with his driver, Abiodun Olayiwola, in his black SUV with customised registration number Lagos KOK when the gunmen waylaid him.
The council boss was said to be on his way home from an official assignment when the incident occurred.
His SUV was badly damaged by an electric pole which stopped it while the driver tried to escape from the gunmen.

D worst part of it, sh?????? dropped d baby in front of a woman dat has bn looking 4 child 4 d past years. D well is front of d ???????s???? dat ds woman is living , police came and sh?????? has ran away even d 3 girls. Dat is her room partner has ran away.

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 36-year-old man, Daniel Kanjo, for allegedly killing his 24-year-old wife, Meno Kanjo, in Elemoro, Ajah area of the state.

According to police investigations, Daniel stabbed his wife to death after catching her making love to another man in a bush near their home.



According to a police source at Elemoro Divison, after stabbing his wife many times, the suspect also stabbed himself in the stomach and in the neck.

The suspect and the wife were thought to be dead,  forcing the residents to call the police to evacuate the corpses

As policemen were packing the corpses to the mortuary, Daniel was, however, discovered to be breathing and was immediately rushed to the hospital.

The suspect, who had been discharged, told PUNCH Metro that the incident was the work of the devil.

He said he loved his wife dearly and never hit her prior to the incident, adding that when he caught her red-handed committing adultery, he lost control.

He said, “I am from Benin Republic but I have been living in Nigeria since 2001. I have two wives. My first wife has six children for me. However in 2010, I got married to Meno (the deceased) and we have a one-year-old child together.

“I am a bricklayer by vocation and I have never denied Meno of anything, even though she was a hairdresser and was making money. I was also faithful to her and showed her love.”

Narrating what transpired on the fateful day, the suspect said he came back from work in the afternoon and needed to collect something from the deceased.

He said as he was looking for her in the house, he was drawn by sounds emanating from a nearby bush.

He said, “When I heard the sound coming from the bush, I moved near and saw my wife having sex with a strange man. As I moved closer, the man saw me and ran away. But I was able to grab my wife and I gave her the beating of her life.

“I did not know what came over me, but I took a knife and stabbed her all over her body. Before I realised what happened, the devil also pushed me to stab myself. I stabbed myself in the stomach and also slit my throat.”

Daniel said some of his neighbours, who were drawn by the noise, started beating him up when they saw his wife on the ground.

He said, “After stabbing myself, I was still moving on the floor although I was weak. Some people came around and started beating me, saying that I must die too since I had killed my wife. They beat me up and took photographs. When I woke up, I found myself in the hospital.”

The suspect urged the police to release him as he was not himself when he was committing the crime. He said if he was sent to prison, his children would suffer.

He said, “My first born is 13 years old while my youngest child is a year old. I pay their school fees and I am responsible for their upkeep. If I am sent to prison, they will all suffer.”

The Deputy Police Public Relations Officer for the state command, Damasus Ozoani, said the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department.”

The industrial mechanic is also said to have described the device, which was to be mounted on a truck and powered via the vehicle’s cigarette lighter, as “Hiroshima on a light switch”.
The FBI claims to have infiltrated their plot after being told by officials at synagogues that the men were approaching Jewish organisations appealing for help targeting the “enemies of Israel”.
Agents posed as Klansmen offering to finance and buy the weapon. Another posed as a supplier of X-ray tubes used in medical devices, who offered to sell to Mr Crawford. The FBI stressed that the device was “never operable” and did not threaten the public.
They began monitoring the mobile phone calls and emails of Mr Crawford and Mr Freight, 54, who met through their work for General Electric (G.E.)
As many as eight more people, including one other G.E. employee, were giving assistance to Mr Crawford, and some may have known his intentions, the FBI said.
Describing Muslims as “medical waste” and “scumbags”, Mr Crawford, who is married with three children, allegedly disclosed that he planned to target them and a political figure. Law enforcement sources told ABC News that the political figure was Mr Obama.
Both men are being detained pending hearings about their detention before a trial. They both face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Nigeria Hot Star 2Face has shown what the brother hood is all about, by donating The sum of 1.5 Million for the Kidney Transplant OJB.
It was also revealed that some Group of Nigerian Musician are Organizing a Fund Raiser Show for OJB

Approaching a man at a bar, Seyi Kolade had only one thing on her mind as she chatted with the stranger - sex. Within hours the pair were in bed together and she was delighted at how her evening had panned out.And this was not a chance encounter, for Seyi was a sex addict and it was what she did almost every day for 13 years. Last night she said: “Sex addiction took hold of my life.”

Seyi, 35, was just 17 when she became dependent on sleeping with men. By 19 she'd had 40 partners and she says she has bedded a shocking total of 370 men.

Her dangerous addiction led her to a life of destruction - catching sexually transmitted infections, being evicted from her home and having two terminations.By the age of 30, Seyi had hit rock bottom and needed help. Today, after attending numerous sex addiction meetings and 12-step programmes, Seyi has been celibate for four years and is helping others like her.

She explains says: “Sex addiction is something people associate with men, but it took hold of my life for more than 13 years.
“It was a craving and a fear of how I’d feel if I couldn’t get it.
“Once I did, it was a huge relief, like a weight was lifted.
“It’s like any addiction. It made me selfish, self-destructive and depressed but it was a cycle I couldn’t escape.”

She adds: “I lost my virginity when I was 13 with my first boyfriend.
“I was shocked when I fell pregnant. I gave birth when I was 14. It was a very difficult time.”
Social services arranged a nanny to look after her daughter, Sarah, from six weeks old.
Being a young mum scarred Seyi’s childhood. She says: “I moved out of home when I was 16 with Sarah and lived in a mother and baby unit. I felt terribly lonely. I craved affection, I was miserable.”

Moving into a housing association home at 17, Seyi met then-boyfriend Paul, 31.
It was now that she began to use sex to replace her feelings of loneliness.
She says: “When I started having sex with my boyfriend I thought it was the answer and would stop me feeling so lonely. But it wasn’t enough.”
Going to bars, Seyi, from Birmingham, cheated on Paul at least once a week with strangers or men she would meet regularly.

She says: “I needed sex and afterwards it was a relief. When I couldn’t made love my confidence would plummet, I felt ugly and went into a spiral of upset and frustration, feeling unworthy and needing another fix as soon as possible.”
Seyi fell pregnant at 17 with son, Andrew. She says: “I told Paul it was his although there was some doubt in my mind. After I gave birth I tried to stay faithful. I wanted sex with him four to five times a day, but the attention from him wasn’t enough.
“When the pent-up sexual frustration became too much, I’d go elsewhere and get validation through sex.
“I cheated on him three times in six months, then fell pregnant again.”
Devastated and unable to look after another child, Seyi made the decision to have her baby terminated.
She says: “It wasn’t fair on the child to have them. I didn’t know whose baby it was so I didn’t tell Paul. I wanted our relationship to work but we split up when I was 19.”
Seyi’s heartbreak made her sex addiction go wild. She says: “The only cure for my loneliness was sex. I had five guys I could meet with for sex when I wanted and was also sleeping with strangers. I’d go to bars and easily pick one up. Being good in bed made me feel worthy.”
By 22 Seyi had caught chlamydia twice. Going out almost every night while her children were looked after by friends and family, all she could think about was sex.
She says: “Between the ages of 22 to 30, life was a blur, my addiction had taken over.
“I was sleeping with five to six men, or meeting strangers for sex at bars weekly. I fell pregnant again at 26. I felt I had no choice but to have a termination. I got drunk and had sex After the procedure.
“I don’t know how I managed to keep my job as a management consultant. I took lots of sick days when I craved sex and couldn’t face the office. I even slept with a colleague.
“I was evicted for not paying rent when I was 29 and had to send my children to live with my family.”

While staying with a friend Seyi saw the documentary The Secret, about the laws of attraction. She says: “I knew I had a problem but never stopped to think about being a sex addict. I realised I needed help.”

After quitting her job to concentrate on her recovery Seyi, then 31, went to an addiction meeting.
She says: “There were six others there and when I listened to their stories it cured my nerves. I didn’t stop craving sex straight away but cut down slowly.” Since August 2009 she has been celibate.
She says: “I’m so proud of myself. I’ve craved sex but the programme lets me know the trigger signs.
“I don’t plan on having sex any time soon. If the right guy comes along and I feel I’m in a stable, loving relationship, I’d feel safe to do it. I have my children back living with me and feel I’m no longer a sex addict.

“I’d hate to think where my life would be now if I hadn’t sought help.”
Despite her recovery, Seyi lives with the guilt of her addiction. She says: “I could have passed on STIs, I had two terminations and my kids didn’t have the attention they deserved.
“I’ve now trained as an inspirational speaker and happiness advocate. At workshops and seminars I can help others understand what sex addiction is, where it comes from and recovery.
“Being celibate has given me my life back. I want to help others do the same.”

The All Progressives Congress, the umbrella of major opposition political parties, on Friday asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to investigate media reports that stated that the wife of the President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, campaigned for her husband’s re-election during her visit to Rivers State, and sanction her appropriately.
Several media reports on Tuesday, quoted the President’s wife as asking the people of Obio Akpor Local Government Area of the state to support President Goodluck Jonathan when he seeks re-election in 2015.
This, APC noted, occurred less than two weeks after INEC warned politicians against starting campaign ahead of the 2015 general elections.
The spokesmen for the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change, the two leading parties in APC, Mr. Lai Mohammed and Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, respectively told SUNDAY PUNCH that INEC had no moral right to sanction any other person, if it failed to sanction Mrs. Jonathan, and others who had started drumming up support for the President.
Mohammed said, “If it is true that Mrs. Patience Jonathan has started campaigning for her husband, then INEC’s attention should be drawn to that because just two weeks ago, INEC warned against campaigning of any kind. If INEC does not sanction her for campaigning, then it will lose every moral right to sanction any other person who starts campaigning.”
Similarly, Fashakin said the action of the President’s wife was a display of the culture of impunity, which he said had characterised the Jonathan administration.
He said, “The bane of our society is the culture of impunity that has become very pervasive. It has become even worse under Jonathan than any other time in the country’s history. That is the kind of thing you would see. The fact is that Jonathan has brought down the level of leadership in the country. We have not had it this low.
“Past Nigerian leaders, both military and civilian, were able to keep their spouses in check, but we have not seen that under President Jonathan. If the Jonathan administration prodded INEC to give the warning against campaign, and the same administration has gone on to flout the warning; then there is a problem.”
Fashakin said the APC expected INEC to analyse Mrs. Jonathan’s comments and if found to be open campaign, appropriate sanction should be applied.
He said, “We believe INEC should have monitors. INEC is the regulator of the political parties. It is to regulate the conduct of political parties. If it does not have a mechanism to monitor this kind of thing and give sanctions appropriately, then it should close shop. It is not for us to tell the regulator its job.
“The President’s wife’s speech was well reported. So, if anything in that speech constitutes open campaign for the President, and since it’s not yet time for politicking, then it’s an infraction of a subsisting regulation and it is anctionable. INEC should know what to do.”
Also, a former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, on Monday said he and some groups decided to start campaigning for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in 2015 despite his directive to the contrary because of the disposition of those opposed to the President’s second coming.
Clark said the position of his group, which was formed in August 2010, was that all Nigerians were equal, irrespective of which side of the country they hailed from.
In its reaction, the Presidency on Friday said it was wrong to describe the mobilisation of support currently being done by wife of the President as campaign ahead of the 2015 elections.
Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, made the Presidency’s position known in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents.
Gulak said what Mrs. Jonathan was doing was to mobilise support for President Goodluck Jonathan in order for him to continue to deliver on his agenda for national transformation.
This, he explained, did not translate into campaigning for the 2015 elections.
He said, “What the woman is doing is to ask citizens of Nigeria to support the President because he actually needs their support.
“The President is revamping the railway; he is tackling insecurity; he is tackling power problem; he is constructing roads and bridges. In all these, he needs the support of the citizens to succeed. He cannot do it alone.
“What we have been saying and what the First Lady is saying is that Nigerians should give the President their support. That does not mean we are campaigning.”
Apparently concerned with the campaigns that had started for his reelection, Jonathan, during the 61st National Executive Council meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abuja on Thursday, advised his party leaders against defying the INEC’s ban on any form of politicking for now.
Section 99 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as Amended) states that, “For the purpose of this Act, the period of campaigning in public by every political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and end 24 hours prior to that day.”
When contacted the spokesman for the chairman of INEC, Mr. Kayode Idowu, told one of our correspondents to give him some time to confirm the media reports before responding.
However, he did not answer subsequent phone calls and did not reply to a text message sent to his mobile phone as of press time.