Minister: Abuja Was Planned Without Consideration For The Poor, Middle Class

The massive housing and transport
deficiencies associated with the Federal
Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja is as a
result of a wrong building process of the
nation’s capital, Minister of State for
Niger Delta Affairs, Darius Dickson Ishaku, said yesterday in Abuja. The minister, who was speaking at the
opening of Town Planners’ Day, said the
city was envisioned without putting into
consideration the poor and middle class
of society. “If I had the way, I would have first built
the mass transit system, the railway
before building the city,” he said. Minister of State for FCT, Mrs.
Olajumoke Akinjide said Abuja was
conceived to be an administrative place,
not for commercial or industrial
purpose. President of Nigerian Institute of Town
Planners (NITP), Steve Onu in his address
read by his deputy, Bulus Sachi,
lamented that the master plans for the
city have not been fully implemented.

Deportation Of Beggars From Lagos To Anambra Illegal, Unconstitutional – Falana

Human Rights Activist and Lagos lawyer, Mr.
Femi Falana (SAN), yesterday decried the
deportation of destitute from where they
reside to their states of origin saying it runs
contrary to the provisions of the
Constitution and therefore illegal. Falana, who was lending his voice to the
debate on the deportation of destitute from
Lagos to Anambra state, made this known
while addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti,
the Ekiti State capital. The rights activist berated the Lagos State
government for the action but lamented
that almost all the states of the federation,
including the Federal Capital Territory, are
guilty of the offence. He said, “It will be wrong to restrict the
condemnation of illegal deportation to
Lagos State because many other states are
into this barbaric act. The deportation of
beggars by the Lagos State government to
Anambra State is illegal, it is against the constitution”.

Pick Buhari As Presidential Candidate And See PDP Win 2015 Race – Presidency Tells APC

APC SPOKESMAN, ALH. LAI MOHAMMED (L) & PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER ON POLITICAL MATTERS, DR. AHMED GULAK

The Presidency has observed the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the build up to 2015 and declared that if the party picks a former Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) as its presidential candidate, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would coast to an easy victory.

The Presidency was apparently replying a comment attributed to spokesman of the newly registered party – Alhaji Lai Mohammed – that it would be political suicide for any party to field President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 election.

The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, stated this in a telephone interview with a PUNCH correspondent in Abuja on Thursday.

The presidential aide also commented on other APC leaders, including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i.

He said, “As far as that merger is concerned, the calculation of the Congress for Progressive Change elements is that Buhari will stand for the election. If he stands for the election, it is a walkover for the PDP; so, we are praying that they field Buhari.”

Sounding very confident on who would or would not run for the presidential race under the banner of APC, Gulak stated, “Tinubu is not interested in the presidential race. I have it on good authority that Tinubu is not interested.

“El-Rufa’i is not a politician. When we are talking about politicians who are likely candidates, we don’t talk about people like El-Rufa’i. We are talking about political politicians.

“But in all, the President has yet to declare his intention whether he will re-contest or not. When the time comes in 2014, we will know whether he will offer himself for a second term or not. As of now, we are here to work for Nigerians.”

Gulak berated the APC for attempting to decide the fate of the President if the PDP fielded him for the 2015 presidential election, saying since the party had just been registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), its leaders should mind their own business and focus on the challenges ahead of them.

He said, “The APC that was just born yesterday should not have the mouth to talk.

“They should mind their own business and face the struggle ahead of them. They should stop focusing on what PDP will do or will not do, that is none of their business.”

The presidential aide added that so far, the APC has not shown that it possesses the presidential material to cause President Jonathan sleepless nights if he decides to re-contest in 2015.