The unfolding story in Taraba state reads like a thriller: the governor survives a plane crash, loses his memory, is replaced in the interim by his deputy who then schemes to unseat him… and the deputy too is about to be unseated before his plan materialises.Meanwhile, Governor Danbaba Suntai, still recovering from the mishap and expected to face a medical [...]
Sodiq Yusuff
ON THE GO
![EXCLUSIVE: Shekau’s killed ‘impersonator’ named as Isa Damsaka [updated]](https://f5p3e9e4.stackpathcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/montage-shekau-330x200.jpg)
The name of the Boko Haram commander killed in Konduga, Borno State, by Nigerian soldiers last week is Isa Damsaka, security sources have told the TheCable.He also went by two other names ─ Bashir Konduga and Bashir Mohammed ─ as Boko Haram commanders use various names, an official explained.Damsaka was the man seen in Boko Haram videos posing as "Abubakar Shekau" since 2013, one [...]
Ahead of the February 14, 2015 presidential election, President Goodluck Jonathan has come under intense pressure to drop Vice-President Mohammed Namadi Sambo as his running mate.Although there has not been any reported rift between the duo ─ unlike former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar ─ the major argument being canvassed against the retention of the former [...]
Former governor of Lagos State and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will return to the country on this week after a month-long absence, TheCable understands.There have been speculations on the state of his health, with some reports suggesting he had been in coma and unable to recognise his family members.However, one of his former commissioners, [...]
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is not about to be off the pages of newspapers. He looks like someone who is beginning to love the limelight, no matter how dim or blinding.For ages he has been accused of sowing the seeds of the Iroko that Boko Haram has become today ─ with his engagement of, as it turned out, a group [...]
Times were when former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar was considered a political wizard ─ the indomitable strategist who knows how to win when it matters the most. The victory of President Olusegun Obasanjo in the 1999 general was attributed, in the main, to the political prowess of Atiku and he immediately looked like a president in waiting. In 2003, he played [...]
There are now genuine fears of a copycat Islamic State being fully established in Nigeria, taking after the group that has now established a quasi-state on Iraqi territory.Security experts fear that Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, is seriously in danger of being captured by Boko Haram, in what would be the insurgents' biggest statement of intent so far.Bama, the [...]
President Goodluck Jonathan is primed to pick the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2015 presidential election ─ from all indications. Most of the aspirants that could challenge him for the ticket have left the party, while Jigawa Governor Sule Lamido is not regarded as a serious challenger.Nigerians who want to see the back of Jonathan will [...]
World's largest political risk advisory, Eurasia Group, has released its forecast for next year's presidential election in Nigeria, predicting that President Goodluck Jonathan would be re-elected.It warned that a "desperate" Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), "facing the potential loss of its power (which dates back to 1999), would exacerbate profligacy, policy politicization, oil theft, and regional/sectarian tensions".Eurasia gave PDP a 75% [...]
The All Progressives Congress (APC) is about to lose another senior member to the ruling party in what political observers are now describing as "the season of defections".Former minister of foreign affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi, has concluded plans to return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which he left nearly 10 years ago to team up with opposition politicians.Ikimi was [...]
Speaker of the house of representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, is set to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress "in a matter of weeks", TheCable understands.This, according to sources, is in preparation for the 2015 presidential election.He will defect to the APC just in time to express interest in the presidential ticket of the opposition [...]
Any attempt to write a new constitution now could give President Goodluck Jonathan a third term in office through the backdoor, the Northern Delegates Forum to the National Conference has warned.Jonathan was elected president in 2011 under the 1999 constitution (as amended) and is currently serving his first term in office.By the provisions of the constitution, he can only serve a [...]
Speaker of the house of representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has launched a quiet bid for the presidential race and is due to meet former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Tuesday evening.TheCable can report that the secret meeting is part of his mobilisation and consultation efforts for the 2015 presidential election.Although he is a member of the [...]
The outcome of the Osun governorship election did not surprise analysts, but the drama was good enough for Nigerians, meaning no one could describe it as boring. In every battle, there are bound to be winners and losers. One person's gain is another's loss. APC's Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola convincingly defeated PDP's Dr. Iyiola Omisore and we learnt a few lessons [...]
The entry of former military administrator of Lagos State, Brig-General Mohamed Marwa (rtd), into the governorship race in Adamawa State has changed the calculations, party sources have told TheCable.Following the impeachment of Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako, a new election to elect his replacement will be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) latest by October.Marwa, who left the PDP [...]
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has survived a bomb attack in Kaduna, but his vehicle was destroyed.On a day when multiple blasts rocked the city, Buhari's vehicle was caught in the blast - which he described as an assassination attempt - in the Kawo area of Kaduna State."He was lucky to survive. The car is gone," his media aide, Malam Yau Darazo, told [...]
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