Hillary Clinton: Everyday Americans need a champion

Former US secretary of state announces 2016 White House bid to become the first female president of the country.

Hillary Clinton is trying to raise as much as $2.5bn to finance her campaign [AP]

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has declared that she is running for president in 2016, seeking to become the first female to occupy the seat that her husband Bill Clinton held for eight years, and setting up what could be the most expensive campaign in history.
Clinton made the announcement on Sunday in a video published on her website, saying "the deck is still stacked in favour of those at the top" as she sought to highlight the theme of ecoonomic inequality.

It is the second time that Clinton has run for presidency.
On Saturday, President Barack Obama, who defeated her in the 2008 Democratic nomination, said Clinton "would be an excellent president".
"She was an outstanding secretary of state. She is my friend. I think she would be an excellent president," Obama said from Panama, where he attended the Summit of the Americas and held a historic meeting with the Cuban leader Raul Castro.
With her candidacy, Clinton also makes history as the first ever spouse of an American president to seek the highest elective office in the US.

In her statement, Clinton, a Democrat, also promised to work across party lines and reach out to Republicans, who currently control the US Congress.
But during her husband’s presidency from 1993 to 2001, both Clintons repeatedly clashed with the Republicans, who tried to remove the 42nd president from office. She became a lightning-rod of Republican criticism, from her handling of the Clinton administration’s failed health care reform to the investigations into their private lives.
$2.5bn campaign 

Although a native of Chicago, Clinton has set up her campaign headquarters in New York, where she served as senator after her husband left office.
Clinton is expected to make her first campaign stop in the US state of Iowa, which will hold the first nominating process in early 2016.
Clinton is not the only high-profile US politician in the running for president. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, son of the 41st US President George HW Bush and brother of another former president, George W Bush is also expected to declare his candidacy for the Republican Party.
Not long after Clinton announced her bid on Sunday night, Bush responded on Twitter, saying: "We must do better than Hillary".

That sets up a potential Clinton-Bush match-up and a repeat of the 1992 elections, when the elderly President Bush lost to Bill Clinton, then a governor of the small southern US state of Arkansas.
According to a New York Times report, Clinton and her allies are trying to raise as much as $2.5bn to finance her campaign. The eventual Republican candidate is also expected to match that amount.
In anticipation of her announcement, the Republican Party posted on its website a 31-second video questioning Clinton's candidacy, from her role in the deadly US consulate attack in Benghazi to her decision to delete a large cache of emails from her time as the US top diplomat.

While Clinton tries to steer her campaign mostly on domestic issues, it is likely that her foreign policy record as the secretary of state during Obama's first four years, would be put under scrutiny.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ibrahim Sharqieh, foreign policy fellow at Brookings Doha Center, said that as secretary of state, Clinton "lacked serious commitment" in resolving many of the issues affecting the Middle East, particularly the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Given her record, Sharqieh said that he is "not very optimistic that she is going to make a difference on US foreign policy towards the Middle East".
He said that Clinton "failed miserably" in putting pressure on Israel and the Netanyahu government to address the Palestine issue.
However, he said that he expects Clinton to be more "hawkish" than President Obama, whom he called as "the most passive American president in decades" on Middle East issues.

Source: Al Jazeera

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#NigeriaDecides: Dave Umahi Wins Ebonyi State Governorship Elections

The Peoples Democratic Party’s Engr. Dave Umahi has been declared winner of the gubernatorial elections in Ebonyi state.

Umahi who was formerly the state’s deputy governor, scored a total of 289, 867 votes to beat his closest rival, the Labour Party’s Edward Nkwegu, who polled 124, 817.
The governorship candidate of APC, Senator Julius Ucha came third position with 27, 583.

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Stay In Your Party Or Form Opposition Party, APC Leader Tells Defectors

The National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, John Oyegun yesterday has said he expects politicians now defecting to APC because it has all of a sudden become the winning party to stay in their parties for the good development of democracy in the country. Oyegun says the only reason why politicians are defecting to APC is because their party has lost, and it is still not a good reason for them to defect. Oyegun spoke to journalists shortly after casting his vote yesterday in Benin City, Edo State, where he expressed his self on the defection issue. Here’s what he said;

                                               

“Many opposition party members have defected to APC just because they lost out, that is not good for political development. One would have advised that opposition members should stay where they are, and form a formidable opposition party.” Mr. Oyegun said.

By the way, have you heard that the President-elect has said there won’t be room for defectors in his Government? Haha Go Buhari!

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VIDEO: Ambode's message to Lagosians (watch)

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Photo: Thugs assault APC Campaign coordinator in Akwa Ibom

The APC campaign coordinator in Akwa-Ibom (pictured above) was attacked by members of a rival political party at Etinan Local Govenment in Akwa Ibom state this morning.

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Lol. See what Governor Amaechi wore to a campaign rally today

The Governor pictured at an APC campaign rally in Rivers state today April 8th...

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Buhari: ‘We feared Jonathan would not accept defeat’ - APC

The APC said when they found out they'd won the election, they feared that Pres. Jonathan would reject the result and invent a military intervention to stop Buhari from being president but were surprised when, not only did Pres. Jonathan concede defeat, but called Buhari to congratulate him. This was something the APC didn't expect and would be forever grateful to Jonathan for...

The Director, Media and Publicity Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Organization, Mallam Garba Shehu, talked to Vanguard about APC's surprise on GEJ's phenomenal move...

“I can say that the President acted with grace. He surprised us because we never expected that they would accept defeat. In fact, the sense everyone had was that they probably had plan A, B, C or D. And in any case, with the kind of thing that Mr. Orubebe did at the collation center, you knew that even when the President had grace, given the chance with the community of people around him, they could have threatened this democracy.

 “Look, I have been involved in presidential campaigns about three or four times in the past, the difference is that this is the most fearful campaign that I have ever experienced. This is the most life threatening campaign because we were dealing with opponents we thought would stop at nothing because they were throwing everything into it.

So, we were not taking anything for granted. It affected our lives. Would you see me in a night club? You couldn’t risk it because you didn’t even know who was trailing you. And it came as a huge relief.

“Again, we were getting security reports from our own sources. Until the President said ‘I concede’ and congratulated Buhari, we felt every minute that something wrong would happen. There was a clear and discernible threat to democracy as a system of government.

“Look, everyone felt concerned because, what if, God forbid, he declared a coup? These scenarios had been laid before Nigerians. Mr. Okupe, the Special Adviser to the President, was he not on Youtube, recorded on video, saying that Buhari will never become President? What do you take that for? It means that Buhari would win and they will take it away from him.

“This careless talk, arrogant display of power, it had come from the Villa. Many sources with linkages to power: Asari-Dokubo, Chief E.K. Clark and all of them, were they not sounding words to the President? They had said it that they would take away their part of the country from Nigeria if Buhari won.

“But for the President to have come and say ‘I accept defeat as the leader of the country’; that had an effect of really calming things down. And that’s why, whether they like it or not, President Jonathan has written his name in gold in so far as this is concerned.” Shehu said.

He then assured that the Buhari would not avenge the attacks on his person by the allies of Jonathan, saying there was enough work to do to meet the aspirations of Nigerians than pursuing mundane things.

Source: Vanguard

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Abbas threatens to take Israel to ICC over tax payment

Palestinians in the West Bank are largely dependent on electricity supplied by Israel Electric Corp [AFP]

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to turn to the International Criminal Court over Israel's refusal to fully release hundreds of millions of dollars in tax monies owed to the Palestinian Authority.
In early January, Israel froze the monthly transfer of funds it collects on behalf of the PA as a punitive measure after the Palestinians moved to join the ICC.
But on Friday, Israel agreed to release the funds after deducting debts due for electricity, water and medical services. Speaking on Sunday, Abbas confirmed that two thirds of the money had been transferred, but that the PA would send it back.

"We are returning the money. Either they give it to us in full or we go to arbitration or to the court (ICC). We will not accept anything else," Abbas said on Sunday.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had no immediate comment.
Israel started withholding about $130m a month in tax and customs revenues in December. The move came after the Palestinians announced that they were joining the ICC, a move finalised on April 1.
Under international pressure, Israel agreed last week to resume the transfers, saying it would immediately pay about $400m - the withheld revenues minus the amount owed by the Palestinians for utilities supplied by Israel.

In February, Israel's state-owned electric company briefly cut power to several Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank to press for payment of what it said was $492m owed by the Palestinian government.
Palestinians in the West Bank, territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War, are largely dependent on electricity supplied by Israel Electric Corp.

Source: Reuters And AFP

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Photos: Yemi Osinbajo Joins Ambode To Campaign In Lagos

Despite winning his own race, Nigeria’s vice-president elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday joined APC’s Lagos governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode to visit ASPAMDA plaza and it’s surrounding where Lagos traders trooped out in their numbers to sing their praises and also assured them of their votes. See more photos after the cut.

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PDP vs APC shading continues...lol

Here's what an APC supporter who's on their presidential campaign train posted on twitter - it's a  Monkey dressed in PDP flag...lol. Choi. See the response from Reno Omokri after the cut...

And here's the Monkey

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Buhari will not participate in BON presidential debate - APC

APC says it's presidential candidate Gen Buhari will not be participating in the presidential debate being organized by the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria BON and the Nigeria Election Debate Group (NEDG) .

In a statement released today January 29th by Garna Shehu, the Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO), they said Buhari will not be participating in the debate as the composition of those organizing the debate was mainly of agencies and allies of the incumbent People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) administration. Continue...


The statement reads in part;

“A cursory inspection of the composition of NEGD brings into focus the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), National Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and the Africa Independent Television (AIT, owned by a PDP chieftain). And going by the avalanche of inflammatory statements, misinformation and blatant lies being propagated by some of these media against our Party and candidates contrary to the Kofi Annan brokered Abuja Peace Accord, and the failure of these aggressors to desist and apologise, have left the APC Campaign with no option than to steer clear of any premeditated smear campaign that could be inimical to our prospective electoral success,” .

  Source : Linda ikeji blog

 

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Most entertainers run after politicians because of poverty - Saidi Balogun

In an interview with Encomium magazine this week, actor Saidi Balogun said the reason entertainers run away after politicians is because of poverty - please read what he said it's kinda interesting...

"(Poverty), that's why you see some of our people running helter-skelter, campaigning for all these politicians. But there's one question we have all not asked, and that's what makes American artists donate to politicians while the actors here in Nigeria are asking from politicians. Every member of the National Assembly has not made an reasonable law on piracy which has devoured the industry. So, there's poverty in the industry. If there's not, you won't see our people flocking around all these politicians, campaigning, singing and dancing for them. I saw a candidate being surrounded by some of our colleagues; I now said to myself, 'if this man eventually wins, how many actors or musicians will he remember? Although some are doing it to make ends meet. And it's sad because we're stars. I think we're supposed to be worshiped, not worshiping others. Even if a governor holds your hand, he's supposed to be happy. But now, the reverse is the case.

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Photos: Jonathan and Buhari Laughing, Hugging and Holding Hands

President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari pictured in Abuja holding
hands, laughing and hugging today at a
Workshop on non-violence organized in
preparation for the 2015 general elections. See
another photo below..

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''Neither Jonathan Nor Buhari Would be the Next President'' - Enugu Prophet

An Enugu based prophet, Anthony Nwoko has
predicted that neither Goodluck Jonathan nor
Gen. Buhari would be president after next
month’s election.

It was gathered that the same prophet had in
1993 prophesied the end of the military regime
of former head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

In 1998, Prophet Nwoko also prophesied that
late military ruler, General Sani Abacha, would
leave the leadership of Nigeria in a mysterious
way and months later the man died.
Nwoko said:

“In 2010, I told Nigerians that they should
not expect much or any miracle from
Jonathan. Now, in this coming election,
Jonathan will only serve as John the
Baptist and Buhari has not got any
heavenly crown to rule and he will not rule
this country because he hasn’t got that
crown.

Don’t take my prophesies for granted
because I had also told General Abdulsalam
Abubakar not to make Obasanjo president
and I had also warned Obasanjo not to
make late former President Yar’Adua
president and my advice was not heeded
and you saw what happened”, he pointed
out.

He continued, “I had told IBB in 1993 to
leave office and it happened and in 1998, I
prophesied that Abacha would leave office
mysteriously, and you saw what
happened.”
When asked what would happen since he has
prophesied that the two leading presidential
candidates would not be president after
February elections, the 64-year old Prophet said:

“I can see the glory of Nigeria in the South
East and I don’t agree with Wole Soyinka
that Jonathan is Nebuchadnezzar;
Jonathan is a forerunner to the glory of
God.”
Reacting to recent comments by fiery Enugu
Catholic cleric, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mabaka, Prophet
Nwoko said he was not condemning the priest
but “I want to tell him that I can see the glory of
God in the South”.

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PHOTO: APC and PDP at the workshop this morning

APC chairman, John Oyegun (left) and PDP
Chairman Adamu Mu'Azu (right) hug at the 2015
elections sensitization workshop in Abuja this
morning. The express on Oyegun's face though.
Lol

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I WON’ T SACRIFICE MY LIFE FOR ANY PARTY — OLUSEGUN OBASANJO

Nigeria ’ s former president , Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo, has vowed not to
sacrifice his life for the any interest of
any party, but for Nigeria
only .

Obasanjo had, last Monday , when
he hosted some women leaders from
the South- West zone , stated that he
would sacrifice his life for Nigeria to
remain one indivisible entity .

He said this on Wednesday , while
playing host to the presidential
candidate of the National Conscience
Party ( NCP ) , Mr Martins Onovo, who
paid him a visit at his Hilltop residence
in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The former president insisted that he
would never close his eyes against
anything that would not be in the best
interest of the nation, while maintaining
that he remained a card - carrying
member of the Peoples Democratic
Party ( PDP ) .

He said he would not keep quiet about
issues concerning the country, saying
“every Nigerian is a stakeholder and
must speak up when things are getting
out of hand .”
He said ; “In this part of the world , we
have a saying that if people sleep and
they put their heads on the same
pillow , they are in danger and that
means there should be some people
that should be critically looking and
watching and also be able to speak up
when they should speak up .

“No matter what others may say ,
because people may come up and say
Nigeria doesn ’ t belong to anybody, I
believe that is a stupid saying , Nigeria
belongs to all of us because anything
that doesn ’ t belong to anybody,
anything can happen to it , for me
Nigeria belongs to all of us and we are
stakeholders in this country.

“Let me make my own position clear , I
am a card -carrying member of PDP
because that is the party on which
platform I became the president of this
country .

“My first pre- occupation is what is
best for Nigeria , Nigeria first, party
second and any other thing third.

Nigeria first means I’ ll sacrifice
anything for the interest of Nigeria and
I can sacrifice my own life for the
interest of Nigeria .

I can’ t sacrifice my
life for the interest of a party, I ’ ll
sacrifice my life for the interest of
Nigeria . ”
The former president extolled the
virtues of the founder of NCP , the late
Human Rights lawyer , Chief Gani
Fawehinmi, describing him as a
genuine social critic .

Obasanjo enjoined Onovo to follow the
footsteps of the late Fawehinmi, whom
he said , was a man of integrity and
honour .

Credit:NIGERIACAMERA

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Buhari Takes Campaign To Olu Of Warri’s Place (Photos)

He is definitely visiting everyone and every city
that matters! Buhari also made a stopover at
the palace of Olu of Warri yesterday, while in
Delta State for APC’s presidential rally in the
State. More photos below.

Credit:laulablog

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'APC planned to hack into INEC database'- DSS claims

The Department of State Services, DSS, said
today that its investigations indicates that the
APC had plans to hack into the database of the
Independent National Electoral Commission,
INEC.

From NAN

DSS said it had uncovered lists containing
names and photographs of security
personnel, foreigners and minor/under-aged
on the registered members list of the All
Progressive Congress (APC). Also , there
was an elaborate and well articulated plan
to inflate the party’s membership data as
well as hack into INEC’s voter registration
database.

The spokesperson of DSS,
Marilyn Ogar, disclosed this on Wednesday
at a news conference in Abuja.
Ogar also said that video with tutorial for
hacking was also uncovered when the
service raided a building in Lagos.
She displayed the lists and other items
recovered from the building to newsmen.
She also alleged that the APC filled forms
without passport photographs, books
containing names of people with phone
numbers and many envelopes containing
passport photographs of people were also
recovered.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls
that operatives of the service raided the
building at No. 10, Bola Ajibola St., Ikeja,
Lagos state, on Nov. 24, 2014, following a
tip-off.

"We suspect that there was an elaborate
and well articulated plan to inflate the
party’s membership data as well as hack
into INEC’s voter registration database,’’
the spokesperson said.
According to her, this was done through the
creation of the party’s membership forms
and cards to match INEC’s voters register
across the country.
Ogar said that the video of 21 hacking
tutorials, ``a temporary voter card, a
permanent voter card’’ were also recovered.
"The tutorial video focused on the following
areas: How to become a hacker and steps
to take to avoid detection in the process of
hacking web services.
"Steps and procedures of system hacking,
passwords cracking, decrypting, escalating
access privileges and creating backdoors to
servers,’’ she said.

Ogar also said that the tutorial clearly
explained how to evade security of
database such as ``Intrusion Detection
Systems (IDS), firewalls and other
measures put in place to deter backers’’.
She said the video also outlined ways to
identify vulnerabilities in systems and how
to cleverly drop a USB flash drive in a
target establishment.

She alleged that the drive, when plugged
into any commuter, could transmit
``malicious codes enough to gain access
into and compromise the entire system of
the target organisation’’.
"The video explains how to hack into the
systems of media houses with the aim of
broadcasting fake stories or headlines,’’ she
said.
Ogar said that suspects arrested in
connection with the raid had been charged
to court, while investigation had begun.

She promised to update the public with
further developments.

Responding to questions, Ogar said the
service had written to the security agencies
whose personnel were found on the APC
register to investigate their involvement and
take necessary actions.

(NAN)

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Entertainers are going into politics for money –Clarion Chukwurah

9ice, Desmond Elliot, Kate Henshaw, Kenneth Okonkwo are a few of
Nigerian entertainers who have gone into politics and actress Clarion
Chukwurah thinks its because of money. Speaking exclusively to
Punch , Clarion said a lot of these entertainers want to go into politics
because they are not making that much money from their vocations.

"The motive of those who are embracing partisan politics is purely
monetary. Let us call a spade a spade. If you tell me that you
want to go into politics to serve the people, I would want to look at
your record first. I want to see what you have done to better the
lives of the people in your immediate community. How many
boreholes have you sunk in the community? How many hours of
community service have you given for free over the last four or five
years? How well are you known as somebody who yearns for
improvement in social development?”

Clarion also criticized the leadership of the AGN. Ibinabo Fiberesima
was re-elected AGN president yesterday
“I said earlier that I wanted to take charge of the AGN because I
saw that those who were running the body lacked the experience
necessary to turn it around and to change the face of the film
industry. It was clear that those in charge had not real agenda for
the guild and they didn’t know what to do to turn it around.

“Also, I observed that some people already felt that being in
charge was the same thing as being in a position to hobnob with
top politicians in the corridors of power and to get money from
various interest groups in the country.

And there was so much
desperation on the part of the leadership of the guild to hold on to
power because they see their position as a platform to make
money.”

Source - Linda ikeji blog

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APC doubts Jonathan commitment to fair polls

Abuja – The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to "walk his talk" and ensure next year's general elections are free and fair.

In a statement issued in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party urged the President to take "concrete actions" to ensure that the elections in the country were not marred by the intimidation and harassment of opposition party members.

“On the same day the President's latest assurances of free, fair, credible and transparent elections in 2015 were being reported, agents of the Jonathan-led federal government were ransacking the offices of a company hired to carry out an opinion poll for Osun State ahead of the August 9 gubernatorial election," APC alleged.


The party alleged that already,the foundation was being laid to rig next month's governorship election in Osun at source, with the Independent National Electoral Commission allegedly frustrating attempts by APC members to obtain their permanent voters cards.

The party called on President Jonathan to refrain from deploying the military for election purposes and discipline Ministers that threatened the holding of credible polls.

“Saying one thing and doing the opposite, Mr. President, will not translate to credible elections. The world is watching,” APC said.

The opposition party urged the President, if indeed he is committed to free and fair elections, to launch an inquiry into why the offices of the firm carrying out an opinion poll for Osun State were invaded.
- CAJ News

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