When you talk about age, it is really the opposite in some of the countries where they won’t elect somebody that is below 70, and that also reflects in investing in the human capital; so, the people prefer experienced hands who can deal with people who are in their upper 60s and lower 70s and higher 70s as their leaders.

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Northern Union (UN) are racing against time: they have just two weeks to produce the consensus candidate for the primaries, which will hold across the nation between September 11 and October 30th.

TOMORROW, Saturday 18 September, 2011 will mark another watershed in Nigeria’s political development when Dr. Goodluck Ebele Azikwe Jonathan formally declares his intention to contest for the Peoples Democratic Party presidential ticket for the 2011 general election. The declaration will lay to rest the endless speculations on the political future of the president, whose rise in politics has been by default.

IT appears there are unseen hands somewhere that are hell -bent on frustrating the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) from having its National Convention. For now the convention of the party- which is scheduled to begin today after it had been dramatically postponed twice earlier- hangs in the balance. The initial date for the convention was last July 17, but it had to be shifted to July 31 due to what the party officially called “unforeseen circumstances.

KADUNA State governor, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa recently marked his 100 days in office. He spoke with reporters on some of the activities of his government within the period. Excerpts:

THE sleepy political activities that had enveloped Delta suddenly came alive with the inauguration of the Uduaghan
Campaign headquarters office in Asaba , last Monday. The group’s Director General, Professor G.G.Darah, a
professor of English Literature at Delta State University, (DELSU) Abraka, held court during it first expanded executive meeting.

SINCE his retirement as the Group General Manager of the Public Affairs Department of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation more than a decade ago, Chief Edem Duke has dedicated himself to making Calabar a preferred destination for tourists.

I don’t see any problem with Jonathan declaring his presidential bid on the platform of PDP; there is no cause for alarm; he has our support.

As at now, in the interest of the PDP, a Northerner has to be the candidate; Jonathan should go and declare on another platform

So, the point I am making is that because the South-West had fought a heroic battle,
everybody had no alternative than to say ‘accommodate them so that we can have peace.’ What I am telling my Igbo brothers is to make themselves so relevant to the Nigerian system that people will say, ‘look, at this point in time, the Igbo candidate is the best we have and it is in Nigeria’s interest to have him.’

In recent times, bashing of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan seems to have become a favourite pastime, especially amongst the vocal national press.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Delta State Professor Saliba Mukoro has pledged his support for the President Gooodluck Jonathan 2011 presidential bid just as he expressed his gratitude to Chief Edwin Clark whom he described as his father for steering the ship of Delta State and Niger Delta in general. Declaring his support […]

For obvious reasons, the South-East zone has become the beautiful bride within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) family as the race to the 2011 presidential election hots up. Sources within the party have said that several months ago after he emerged as the nation’s substantive President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan sent emissaries to Governors of the Southeast zone who belong to the party intimating them about the likelihood of him running for the presidential election next year.

THE South East geo-political zone appears to be at cross-roads regarding who to deploy its support in the 2011 presidential election and leaders of the region are indeed worried that Ndigbo have failed to speak with one voice even as the presidential primaries hold next month.

Former Governor of old Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife has been involved in several of the recent meetings Igbo leaders have convened to fashion a common position on whether or not to support President Goodluck Jonathan to realise his perceived presidential ambition in 2011. He gave a deep insight into the thinking of the Igbo political leadership and insisted that Ndigbo want the presidency in 2015.