Former govs in the Senate’re a threat to democracy – Sen. Braimoh

Senator Yisa Braimoh represented Edo North in the Senate from 2007 to 2011 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was vice chairman of the Committee on Culture, Tourism and National Orientation.  In this interview with select journalists, he speaks on recent rumblings in the Senate and the National Conference among others.
How would you assess the current politics in the Senate where some former governors have been throwing their weights behind an agenda to upset the PDP majority and the leadership of David Mark?
I have long, before now, expressed serious concern at the rate at which sitting governors, who, in a bid to negotiate their exit from office at the threshold of their constitutionally prescribed two terms of eight years, have gravitated to the Senate for refuge.

* Braimoh: The National Conference has come at a right time

The trend, from all indications, will continue and will certainly not augur well for the Senate which is seen as an enclave of equals with the Senate President as first among equals.  Once these governors have made up their minds to go to the Senate, it does not matter whether the incumbent senators they seek to replace are doing well and deserving of re-election.
They mobilize state machinery to clinch

Confab: Kutigi is qualified—Sagay, Falae, Afenifere, others

FROM the lips of some eminent Nigerians came commendation, yesterday, for the appointment of former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Kutigi, as chairman of the National Conference.
President Goodluck Jonathan, Monday, named Kutigi as chairman of the conference with Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, as his vice and Dr Valerie Azinge as secretary. Reacting to the appointment, yesterday, legal icon, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), said the choice of Justice Kutigi as chairman of the National Conference is a good one.

Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Legbo Kutigi,

Speaking with Vanguard on the telephone, he said: “I do not know his political lineage or ideological orientation but professionally and in terms of status and achievement, he is quite entitled. He is a retired chief justice of the country, he was called

Ekiti guber poll: It’s a three horse race

WITH less than four months to the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State, the major political parties are making frantic efforts to outwit one another ahead of the polls. The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP and the Labour Party, LP, are presently the frontline political parties that will slug it out at the polls.

While the APC and LP already have their presumed nominees, the PDP,  is in the process of choosing its candidate from the pool of 26 aspirants now jostling for the ticket. Vanguard spoke with the chairmen of the APC and LP as well as the scribe of the PDP on their plans and preparations for the poll.

Presidency faults APC’s purported poll

The Presidency on Sunday faulted a purported poll carried out by the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, describing it as “nothing but a great exercise in quackery.”

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, was reacting to a statement issued by th

2015: We will put to shame those prophesying crisis in APC – Senator Lanlehin

Senator Femi Lanlehin represents Oyo South  in the Senate. In this interview, Lanlehin  dismisses the claim of a stormy relationship between him and Governor Abiola Ajimobi. He also denies nursing governorship ambition while speaking on the chances of his party, All Progressive Congress, in the 2015 polls and National Conference.

Confab: There is nothing to talk about — Kukah

No report can surpass 2005 conference report
President has no business convoking dialogue
FG shouldn’t fund ethnic groups, warlords’ participation
Jonathan’s perceived weakness not responsible for Boko Haram
BISHOP Matthew Hassan Kukah is  a sad man. His sadness is not related to the enormity of his episcopal responsibilities or being weighed down by the challenges that come with being an intellectually robust cleric and socio-political activist. Kukah is angry that every new Nigerian leader disregards past agreements on how to build a nation. This is why he is embarrassed that President Goodluck Jonathan is embarking on another talk on the future of Nigeria.

LAGOS 2015: The religious card in the search for Fashola’s successor

S the 2015 governorship election in Lagos State approaches, the question of who succeeds the incumbent, Mr. Raji Fashola, has ignited political intrigues and permutations. The matter is gaining momentum following the strategic nature of Lagos as a melting pot for ethnic nationalities in the country. For residents, ethnicity, which had been a determinant factor about who governs Lagos, does not really matter given that it has become normal for the number one citizen to be of Yoruba extraction. What has remained contentious is the religious dimension which the issue had assumed lately. For instance, the Director of Civic and Political Affairs of the Diocese of Lagos Mainland of the Anglican Communion, Venerable Folarin Shobo, in July 2013, urged Lagos residents to vote in a Christian as governor in 2015. Shobo reportedly said Lagos residents could not afford to continue with the present political arrangement whereby political officers were largely people of a particular faith. While noting that Governor Raji Fashola has done well in improving on the infrastructure of the state, he said, “It is time for power to shift in the state. It is time for us to have people who will continue to rule with the fear of God and respect for the rule of law. There is a strong need for genuine internal democracy among the parties that will produce a credible candidate come 2015