Headline

Buhari Opens Up On Death Claim, ‘Jubril From Sudan’

Published

3 years ago

December 25, 2022

President Muhammadu Buhari, Friday night, described the claim that he was dead, and that one Jibril Aminu from Sudan was the one occupying the Presidential Villa, Aso Rock as a joke that was not funny.

Buhari spoke in a documentary film which premiered at a private dinner organised by his family and associates to celebrate his 80th birthday tagged ‘Celebrating a Patriot, a Leader, an Elder Statesman’.

The documentary, produced and directed by US based filmmaker, Ose Oyemadan, showcased the President’s early life, school days, military career, rise to the position of Head of State after the 1984 coup and imprisonment, release, PTF days and return to democracy during which he contested elections in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 when he won, and his re-election in 2019.

The narrative was driven by the President and supported with deep and authoritative insights by his nephew, Alhaji Mamman Daura, classmate, Senator Abba Ali, close family members, friends, aides and political associates, including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, FCT Minister of State, Ramatu Aliyu, spokesman, Femi Adesina, former running mate in the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, Special Envoy to Chad, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, State Chief of Protocol, Lawal Kazaure, SGF, Boss Mustapha, Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gamvari and the publisher/biographer, John Paden

Buhari said some Nigerians have a way of creating humor to feast on something they do not understand, adding that the rumor that he was dead and one Jubril from Sudan was the one in the Presidential Villa was the work of some mischief makers to demonstrate their cheekiness.

Asked by the interviewer if he heard about the crazy rumor a while back that he was not Buhari, he replied, smiling, “Yes! People said I am somebody from Sudan. I didn’t bother with the name. Nigerians have mischievous ways of explaining themselves.”

Recall that in 2017, some persons, including leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, took to the social media space to declare that Buhari died from his undisclosed sickness, his burial arranged and effected in Saudi Arabia and a clone, Jubril Aminu (double body) stepped in to play his role and live his life as President of Nigeria.

It all sounded ludicrous that some highly educated and enlightened Nigerians fell for the narrative which was then brazenly driven by Kanu and elements in some quarters.

Funny

Also asked whether he finds such things funny, the President said: “No. It’ is not funny because those who made those statements, just want to be cheeky. They want to distract attention from the main issue.

“Our main issue is to do infrastructure, make people aware that they need to work hard to live well. They just want to enjoy life without earning the respect of their community and so on.”

He said he will not miss Aso Rock much because he is being harassed and that his efforts to make the country better are not good enough and appreciated by some people.

Asked what he will miss about the Presidency when he leaves, Buhari said: “I wonder if I am going to miss much. I think I’m being harassed. I believe I’m trying my best but still my best is not good enough. Because there are people around that think that they can intimidate me to get what they want instead of going through certain systems to earn whatever they want to earn. And there are some people who want to be clever by half.”

Buhari revealed that he lost two of his children born by his late wife to sickle cell anemia and that was why when he wanted to remarry, he insisted the second wife must be AA genotype, so that his children will not inherit the S from his AS genotype.

Headline

Nnamdi Kanu’s Case Proof Of Religious Persecution In Nigeria – US lawmaker, John James

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

Former chairman of the Africa Subcommittee and now a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative, John James, has claimed that the case of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is proof of religious persecution in Nigeria.

James stated this when the United States House Subcommittee on Africa on Thursday, held a public hearing to review President Donald Trump’s recent redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.

The hearing in Washington, DC included senior US State Department officials and Nigerian religious leaders.

James claimed that in the case of Nnamdi Kanu, Nigeria’s Court of Appeal had struck down the charges against him and ordered his release in 2022.

He said: “Religious persecution is tied to political repression and weakening institutions in Nigeria. The detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a clear example.

“In 2022, Nigeria’s Court of Appeals struck down the charges against him and ordered his release.

“The UN Working Group for Arbitrary Detention has also called for his unconditional release, yet he remains in solitary confinement in deteriorating health and recently had to represent himself in court.

“Nigeria has signaled that the law is optional and targeting Christians is fair game. Just hours ago this morning, despite the pleas and cries of Nigerian people and many Nigerian lawmakers, Kanu was convicted on all charges.”

Nnamdi Kanu was on Thursday, sentenced to life imprisonment over terrorism charges.

Headline

Nigerians Don’t Trust Their Govt – US Congressman Riley Moore

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

US Congressman Riley Moore has said that Nigerian people do not trust their government.

Moore stated this on Thursday at US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa, which is investigating Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, CPC.

“The Nigerian people don’t trust their government. ‘How can you trust a government that doesn’t show up when you ask them to?

“The Nigerian government must work with the US in cooperation to address these insecurity issues.

“A case that just happened recently in Plateau state. We had a pastor there who warned the Nigerian government that they were under attack. There’s imminent attack forces here in the next 24 hours. Please come and help us.

“The Nigerian government did not only ignore it but put up a press release that it is fake news,” he said.

Moore would be meeting with a delegation of senior members of the Nigerian government, over the devastating insecurity in Nigeria and the US designation of the country as CPC, DAILY POST reports.

Headline

US Makes U-turn, To Attend G20 Summit In South Africa

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2025

Editor

In an 11th-hour about-turn, the United States has told South Africa it wants to take part in this weekend’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday.

President Donald Trump’s administration had said it would not take part in the November 22-23 meeting and that no final statement by G20 leaders could be issued without its presence.

It has clashed with South Africa over various international and domestic policies this year, extending its objections to Pretoria’s G20 priorities for the meeting of leading economies being held for the first time in Africa.

“We have received notice from the United States, a notice which we are still in discussions with them over, about a change of mind about participating in one shape, form or other in the summit,” Ramaphosa told reporters.

“This comes at the late hour before the summit begins. And so therefore, we do need to engage in those types of discussions to see how practical it is and what it finally really means,” he said.

There was no immediate confirmation from US officials.

Ramaphosa said: “We still need to engage with them to understand fully what their participation at the 11th hour means and how it will manifest itself.”

In a note to the government on Saturday, the US embassy repeated that it would not attend the summit, saying South Africa’s G20 priorities “run counter to the US policy views and we cannot support consensus on any documents negotiated under your presidency”.

Ramaphosa said earlier Thursday that South Africa would not be bullied.

“It cannot be that a country’s geographical location or income or army determines who has a voice and who is spoken down to,” he told delegates at a G20 curtain-raiser event.

There “should be no bullying of one nation by another”, he said.

– ‘Positive sign’ –
Ramaphosa said the apparent change of heart was “a positive sign”.

“All countries are here, and the United States, the biggest economy in the world, needs to be here,” he said.

South Africa chose “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability” as the theme of its presidency of the G20, which comprises 19 countries and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union.

Its agenda focuses on strengthening disaster resilience, improving debt sustainability for low-income countries, financing a “just energy transition” and harnessing “critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development”.

After early objections from Washington, it vowed to press on with its programme and its aim to find consensus on a leaders’ statement on the outcome of the discussions.

“We will not be told by anyone who is absent that we cannot adopt a declaration or make any decisions at the summit,” Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Thursday.

Trump has singled out South Africa for harsh treatment on a number of issues since he returned to the White House in January, notably making debunked claims of white Afrikaners being systematically “killed and slaughtered” in the country.

He expelled South Africa’s ambassador in March and has imposed 30 percent trade tariffs, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

US businesses were well represented at a separate Business 20 (B20) event that wound up in Johannesburg Thursday.

The head of the US Chamber of Commerce, Suzanne Clark, thanked South Africa for fostering “real collaboration between G20 nations during a time of rapid change” during its rotating presidency, which transfers to the United States for 2026.

“The US Chamber of Commerce will use our B20 leadership to foster international collaboration,” Clark said.

The United States has significant business interests in South Africa with more than 600 US companies operating in the country, according to the South African embassy in Washington.

G20 members account for 85 percent of global GDP and around two-thirds of the world’s population.