Rights group calls for ICC probe of Nigerian presidential candidate

Amsterdam - A Nigerian human rights group on Monday asked the International Criminal Court to bring charges against Nigerian presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari for post-election violence in 2011.

The Northern Coalition for Democracy and Justice said in a statement Buhari should face justice over the violence, when 800 people were killed and many churches and schools were destroyed.

The ICC has been looking into possible war crimes in Nigeria since 2010, but few believe it would be keen to take on another powerful politician after being forced to drop charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta earlier this month.

Buhari's All Progressives Congress party denied the claims, saying they were politically motivated.

"They will not stop at anything to try to derail General Buhari," said spokesman Lai Mohammed. "I can see the hands of the government behind it."

Nigerian officials were not immediately available to respond.

The court's prosecutor receives dozens of such submissions each year, of which very few ever result in investigations.

The NCDJ alleged the violence included acts of murder, torture and rape systematically directed at perceived non-supporters of Buhari.

The NCDJ had previously referred Buhari to the ICC in 2011, but said it decided to submit more evidence after the former military ruler emerged as the main candidate in February's presidential elections.

"We have a lot of very strong evidence we are submitting to the prosecutor," said Goran Sluiter, a Dutch law professor acting for the NCDJ, adding he wanted to ensure Buhari did not escape justice by winning political office.

Earlier this month, the ICC withdrew charges against Kenyatta, who was accused of orchestrating a wave of deadly violence after the 2007 Kenyan elections, due to insufficient evidence.

Observers say the ICC charges were a key factor in helping Kenyatta secure the presidency two years ago, from which position he was able to lead Kenya and its African allies in a campaign of lobbying against the court's charges.

Buhari, 71, has been an influential political figure in Nigeria for much of its post-independence history, leading a military government for two years until 1985.

The ICC was set up 12 years ago to try those suspected of serious international crimes in cases where local authorities are unable to do so. It has been criticised for bringing weak cases and securing just three convictions.

Oshiomhole may emerge Buhari’s running mate

Abuja - Barring any last minute change of plans, the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) may pick Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State as the running mate to the party’s presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, reports Opinionvoices.

Oshiomhole’s choice follows the decision of the former Lagos State governor and national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu to drop  his ambition to run with Buhari.

Amaechi loses out as APC zones VP to South- westThe party settled for Oshiomhole when the APC governors insisted that Buhari’s running should be chosen from amongst them.Oshiomhole will be formally presented to a meeting of party leaders in Abuja on Monday.

Oshiomhole serves President Jonathan quit notice

Benin City - Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State on Sunday served President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a quit notice for what he described as their crass incompetence to fix Nigeria’s problems, reports opinionvoices



Oshiomhole, who poke shortly after attending the 22nd convocation ceremony of Auchi Polytechnic, said the time is ripe for the PDP and President Jonathan to quit governance because the party has failed the nation since its 15 years of incompetent leadership.

Oshiomhole, who is being tipped as the running mate of the Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, noted that the PDP’s mismanagement of the country has also affected the power sector, which is vital for the growth of any country.

2face, Lagbaja, Olamide, others to light up ‘K1 Live Unusual’ concert..

There is palpable excitement in the land as the Convention Centre of Eko Hotel & Suites gets set to host the biggest selection of Nigerian artistes in the country next month. The event, put together by the management of music legend and Fuji king, KWAM 1, is tagged ‘K1 Live Unusual’ and music lovers around the country can begin to mark their calendars for Friday, November 21. K1 Live Unusual, the first concert of its kind, will be hosted by the King of comedy himself, Ali Baba while popular comedian, Buchi is expected to add comic bites to the large dose of entertainment to be served at the event. 

Expected to be an avenue to feel and enjoy an aggregate of favourite records like ‘Baby mi show colour re,’ ‘Talazo system,’ ‘Omo Naija,’ ‘Eyo’ and many others from the 57-yr old behind some of the country’s most celebrated hits, the concert is billed to attract thousands of music lovers. With celebrity disc jockey, DJ Jimmy Jatt live on the turntables and performances from multiple award winner, 2face Idibia; vocal powerhouse, Omawumi; Afro-beat and Jazz icon, Lagbaja and distinguished Fuji star, Adewale Ayuba, it is surely a concert deep in rich yet diverse tunes. 

Others on the bill include rap sensation, Olamide, who was inspired by KWAM 1 and collaborated with the King of Fuji music on his hit single, ‘State of the Nation’ while he also sampled his tunes in ‘Anifowoshe,’ will also be performing at the event in which legendary Sir Shina Peters and Sir Victor Olaiya are also to feature. 

More artistes and sponsors are also expected to be revealed in due time for the all-star concert to be followed by an exclusive after-party to hold at Quilox Nite Club. The event is fully supported by the Lagos State Government, Lagos State Signage & Advertisement Agency (LASAA) and media partner, HipTV.... 

2015 Nations Cup: Equatorial Guinea to host tournament

Equatorial Guinea have been named as the hosts for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, the Confederation of African Football has confirmed to the BBC.

Caf selected a replacement for Morocco after rejecting their request to delay the 17 January to 8 February finals.

Morocco were concerned over the spread of the outbreak of the Ebola virus.

Caf subsequently expelled Morocco from the relocated tournament, which will now be held in the country which co-hosted with Gabon in 2012.Confederation of African Football's Junior Binyam , they have "no doubt" that it will be "a beautiful tournament" and one "up to the same standards of what we've seen in past years".

Equatorial Guinea will now take on sole responsibility for holding the 16-team event.

Caf said the decision was made after a meeting in Malabo on Friday between Equatorial Guinea's president Teodoro Obiang and Caf president Issa Hayatou.

African football's governing body also announced that Equatorial Guinea will play in the tournament - despite the team being disqualified in July for fielding an ineligible player in a preliminary qualifier against Mauritania on 17 May.

Hayatou said in a statement:  "The head of state of Equatorial Guinea agreed to host the competition.

"As a result, the Caf executive committee confirms that the tournament will go ahead and Equatorial Guinea will compete as the host nation.

"Caf wishes to express its sincere thanks to the Equatorial Guinean people, its government and particularly president Obiang."

Matches will be held at four venues in Bata, Ebebiyin, Mongomo and the capital Malabo. In 2012, only Malabo and Bata were used.

The draw for the finals will be in Malabo on 3 December.

2015 Nations Cup: South Africa among teams to reach finals

South Africa are among six teams on Saturday to have booked their place at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations after each won their penultimate qualifier.

Cameroon, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Senegal are the others to have sealed their progress.

The six countries join the already-qualified trio Algeria, Cape Verde, Tunisia, and new hosts Equatorial Guinea at next year's tournament which will be be played from 17 January to 8 February.

SUPER EAGLES FAIL TO QUALIFY FOR NATIONS CUP.

Reigning champions Nigeria will not defend their title in Equatorial Guinea after failing to qualify from Group A.

In Wednesday's final round of matches, Nigeria were held 2-2 by South Africa in Uyo, meaning they finished outside of their group's top two automatic qualification spots with eight points - a total that also put them out of the running to be the best third-placed team.

South Africa had already assured their place at the tournament, which will be played from 17 January to 8 February, and only one spot remains outstanding.

Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea and Mali all claimed their tickets to the continent's showpiece event with their results on Wednesday.

Things falling apart within Lagos PDP

On June 22, 2014, the day Mr. Ayodele Fayose was declared the winner of the Ekiti State governorship election, it seemed the fortunes of the Peoples Democratic Party in the South-West had changed for the better.

Weeks later – precisely on July 11, 2014 – Fayose arrived at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, along with several leaders of the PDP on a ‘thank you’ tour to Lagos State. Many observers, however, believe that the aim of the event was to create awareness for the PDP and mock the All Progressives Congress, which has been ruling the state since 1999.

At the event, some PDP leaders such as the then Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro; the Chairman, PDP Mobilisation Committee in the South-West, Chief Buruji Kashamu; and six other governorship aspirants in the state; made it clear that their mission was to wrest Lagos State from the APC.

Another event involving the Lagos State PDP held on August 29 at the National Theatre, Iganmu, in honour of the leader of the PDP in the state, Chief Olabode George, when the Mandela Award was bestowed on him by the National Association of Nigerian Students. At the event were the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko; a former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; a former Governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala; a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole; a former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope; a former Minister of Works, Mr. Adeseye Ogunlewe, and many other party leaders in the state. Their mission was clear; they wanted to ‘rescue’ Lagos from the firm grip of the APC.

George did not mince words when he stated that Lagos was being run by a former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who has been largely responsible for the success the APC has always enjoyed at the polls in Lagos State.

The PDP leaders, who referred to Tinubu as the ‘Lion of Bourdillon,’ said just as the late South African leader, Nelson Mandela, freed his country from apartheid after spending 27 years in prison, George, who is also a prison returnee, would free Lagos from the firm grip of Tinubu.

Mimiko, who is of this view, said he had a ‘spiritual revelation’ that the PDP would win Lagos next year. Mimiko said, “I can see; I have the gift of clairvoyance that by 2015, we shall come to celebrate with Chief Bode George when he has produced the next governor of Lagos State. You better believe it. I am speaking under divine inspiration.”

On his own part, ex-governor Daniel, who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged financial impropriety, said it was unfortunate that Lagos had never been ruled by the PDP despite the fact that George is an indigene of the state.

He said, “In 2000, the Yoruba nation was in a quandary and we had a President (Olusegun Obasanjo), who had no political support in his home. So, Chief Bode George led us to tour Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti and everywhere and the PDP won everywhere in 2003 but Bode George’s state. It now behooves all of us to understand the concept of one good turn deserves another and now that he is no longer as strong as before, we must stand by him to ensure that he can inaugurate the next governor of Lagos.”

Three months later, however, it seems the PDP’s attempt to ‘sack’ the APC and Tinubu has suffered a setback, following emerging acrimony and infighting between the supporters of Obanikoro and another governorship aspirant, Mr. Jimi Agbaje.

Agbaje, who is alleged to be enjoying the strong support of George and Ogunlewe, was said to have been promised the governorship ticket long before he joined the PDP from the Democratic People’s Alliance, which was deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Since Obanikoro was still a minister at the time, it was believed that with the support of such influential leaders of the party, Agbaje would be accepted by other aspirants.

However, the political calculation changed when Obanikoro resigned his ministerial appointment and joined the governorship race. Since then, it had been allegations and counter-allegations between the two camps.

A source close to Obanikoro, who preferred to remain anonymous, said, “When Agbaje joined the PDP and declared his intention to run for governor, he was highly favoured by the party leadership and was rumoured to have the President’s backing. They probably believed that Obanikoro would not contest. But now that Obanikoro has declared, it has now dawned on them that things will not go as smoothly as they thought.”

As the crisis deepens, the warring parties which have the Agbaje, Ogunlewe, and George camps on the one hand; and Obanikoro on the other hand, have not had a direct confrontation. They have not traded accusations in the open. However, various groups have sprung up in support of each of the two major factions, issuing press statements on their behalf.

For example, a group, the Lagos Integrity Watch, told Obanikoro to forget his bid for the party’s ticket. The group slammed Obanikoro for allegedly criticising George over the conduct of the ward congress in the state. The coordinator of the group Olarinde Onitolo, in a statement, said, “We read with alarm and disgust the outrageous claim of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, alleging that our national leader, Chief Olabode George, was somehow partisan in the ward congress held in Lagos State. This is unfair. It is crude, illogical and foul. The fact of the matter is that Obanikoro is a rejected aspirant. The stakes are too high. Obanikoro should apologise immediately to our party and Chief George for this gross indiscretion.”

However, another group, which is loyal to Obanikoro, The Patriots, berated George for being a dictator in the party. The group, while adopting Obanikoro as its sole candidate, said it believed that George was planning for the PDP to fail because he wanted to remain the leader of the PDP in Lagos. The group explained that if a PDP governor emerged next year, the governor would assume the leadership of the party and thus make George redundant.

The Organising Secretary of the South-West PDP, Mr. Femi Carenna, who is a staunch supporter of The Patriots, said, “Only Obanikoro can face Tinubu and even Tinubu knows this. Obanikoro is the only person that can take the PDP to Alausa Government House next year. We saw how he performed in Ekiti and even in Osun. We are sure that he is the only one capable of fighting the opposition.”

As the fighting intensified, another pro-George group, asked an Ikeja High Court to stop the governorship ambition of Obanikoro over an alleged falsification of age. Besides, the group asked the court to determine Obanikoro’s citizenship, alleging that the ex-minister had acquired the citizenship of the United States without renouncing his Nigerian citizenship.

Specifically, the respondents, Michael Babatunde Ogun, Suleiman Olayinka Saheed and Wasiu Adeniyi Odusan, all PDP members in the state and initiators of the suit, asked the court to determine Obanikoro’s eligibility to participate in the party’s governorship primary fixed for December 8, 2014.

They also asked the court for an injunction barring Obanikoro from accepting what they called “the PDP’s candidacy or nomination” to contest the next year’s governorship election in Lagos State until the matter was favourably disposed of.

However, another group, The Group of Concerned Lagosians, slammed Ogunlewe and George for sponsoring a campaign of calumny against Obanikoro. The group, in a statement by its coordinator, Olayinka Sotade, on Monday, said it was mischievous for them to have brought up the issue of citizenship a few weeks to the PDP primary even though Obanikoro had served as a minister and an ambassador. The statement read in part, “Let it be made clear that Obanikoro is a natural born citizen of Nigeria and nowhere else, not USA, not UAE, not Outer Mongolia. Instead of meeting him at the party primary, desperate individuals are resorting to the same dirty tricks they used in years past to, at the most, frustrate his aspiration, and, at the least, confuse the electorate.

“We are solidly behind Senator Obanikoro and wish to let Bode George and his cohorts know that Obanikoro is a true son of Lagos, who has served Lagos decently all through his public service career without any criminal record, accusation or litigation. He will not be intimidated by half-baked politicians who are already afraid of meeting him at the primary.”

Responding to the crisis within the PDP, a former Minister of State for the Interior, Mr. Ademola Seriki, who was a vice chairman of the PDP in Lagos State, before defecting to the APC, said the disunity in the Lagos PDP was expected and that it would affect the party’s chances next year.

He said, “They have not and cannot win Lagos because they are not united and can never be. They have never had power in Lagos before and don’t know what it is like to have it. So, when power is approaching, all of them will be hungry. It is like putting food in front of people that are not just hungry but starving. You know, when they see the food, they can just start slapping one another because no one would want to be cheated. That is what is happening now.”

In a move seen largely as a bid to unify the party, President Goodluck Jonathan visited the state last month when he reportedly charged the party leaders in the state to come up with a consensus candidate or prune the large number of aspirants to three so that the party could forge ahead.

This seemed to be more difficult than expected as only one aspirant, Dr. Ade Dosunmu, dropped out of the race to contest the Lagos-Central senatorial ticket. Reacting to the crisis, the Publicity Secretary of the Lagos State chapter of the PDP, Mr. Taofik Gani, said the party was aware of the infighting. He, therefore, warned those disparaging George to be careful as they risked being sanctioned by the party. Gani said there was no reason to believe that George was supporting anybody and reaffirmed George as the leader of the PDP in the state.

He said, “The Lagos PDP is reading the Riot Act to all those who are out to foment trouble in the name of any aspirant or group. Issues that are meant to be resolved within the party should not be discussed on the pages of newspapers. Let it be known that the activities of the aspirants and their groups in the open or secret are being noted by the party. Elections are approaching and this is not the time not to be seen as united.

“We are not precluding that people can agitate for rights and privileges but they should not be overambitious. We particularly condemn any aspirant or group that has come to put a bad label on Chief Olabode George, he remains the leader of our party but that is not to say that his opinion will always be final. Anyone that continues to attack him will not only suffer punishment but may lose some privileges and will be labelled a mole of the APC and Tinubu.”

US orders its Europe troops to keep low profile

The United States military’s European Command said on Tuesday it has ordered its troops to avoid wearing their uniforms when off base, and to ensure the security settings and geo-location functions on their social media pages aren’t “overly revealing.”

According to ABC News, EUCOM spokesman, Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, would not say what prompted the new directive for the roughly 70,000 US personnel serving in Europe. The order, issued on November 10, comes after high-profile attacks on soldiers of American allies Britain and Canada in their home countries.

“We continually assess threats to our forces with and alongside our host nation counterparts, and take appropriate measures based on those assessments,” Hicks said in an e-mailed statement to The Associated Press. “We will not get into the specifics of those threats nor the assessments.”

EUCOM said it did not know whether other American commands had issued similar directives.

The order came two days before three American sailors were assaulted in Istanbul, Turkey, near where their warship was docked.

Protesters shouted “Yankee, go home!” and other slogans, and threw red paint at the sailors, who were not in uniform. They also briefly succeeded in putting white sacks over the sailors’ heads.

Last month, a gunman shot and killed a soldier in Ottawa in an attack Prime Minister Stephen Harper called an act of terrorism.

Two days before that, a man authorities said was inspired by the Islamic State extremist group ran over two soldiers in a parking lot in Quebec, killing one and injuring the other before being shot to death by police.

The attacks raised fears Canada was suffering reprisals for joining the US-led air campaign against IS in Iraq and Syria.

Last year in the London suburb of Woolwich, two Islamic extremists ran a British solder down in a car, then stabbed and hacked him to death in public. One of the men accused in the crime has said they choose the first soldier they spotted, and considered him a “fair target.”

86 million Nigerians have no insurance cover –CIIN

About 86.6 million Nigerians have no form of insurance cover, the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria has said.

The President, CIIN, Mr. Bola Temowo, said this was the outcome of a recent research.

He spoke at the institute’s annual seminar in Benin, Edo State, according to a statement obtained on Friday.

“Available records indicate that 86.6 million Nigerians have no form of insurance, while 1.3 million adults, representing 1.5 per cent of the entire Nigerian adult population, maintain some category of formal insurance cover,” he said.

He, however, envisaged that the current record of Nigeria’s insuring population would receive a boost and improve the industry’s profile in global ranking.

According to him, the Federal Government also envisions a fast growing insurance industry that will contribute substantially to making the nation’s economy one of the 20 largest markets in the world by the year 2020.

Temowo said there was a need to improve the industry’s marketing machinery and develop an action plan for actualising the financial inclusion strategy in the delivery of insurance products and services to the critical mass, comprising the low income earners.

He said the CIIN would focus on the maximisation of existing and emerging channels of distribution to deepen insurance penetration.

“The significance of insurance in the life of our nation cannot be over emphasised. These trying times are fraught with several risk factors for both individuals and corporate bodies. As risk managers, it behoves us to increase the tempo of our campaigns for insurance awareness in order to get more Nigerians to embrace insurance with minimal compulsion,” he said.

He said the CIIN had continued to explore all platforms of propagating insurance education and promoting general financial literacy.

“Our training and retraining programmes are being intensified, while creating new channels for capturing the younger generation and ensuring that they embrace insurance consciously as a course of study,” he said.

For this reason, Temowo said the institute sponsored the production of an insurance textbook for secondary schools and had commenced the donation of copies of the book to over 2,000 public secondary schools in the country through the state Ministries of Education.

The institute, he added, also acknowledged the dearth of insurance teachers in schools and had embarked on a train-the-trainer project in order to equip the teachers with the minimal skills required for teaching the subject.

He said this had reinforced the inclusion of insurance as a course of study in secondary schools by the Federal Government.

Temowo said, “The campaign for insurance awareness has become the collective concern of the entire insurance industry. The Insurance Industry Consultative Council, the body comprising all arms of the industry, has also taken positive steps towards sensitising government agencies on the pivotal role of insurance in nationhood.”

The CIIN boss said the council of the institute had also adopted measures geared towards involving all stakeholders in the campaign.

He said it had recently been appealing to insurance institutions to adopt a secondary or tertiary institution close to them and support such institutions with their employees as volunteer teachers who would take time off their official schedule to teach insurance courses in the schools.

FG targets 7,200MW from solar energy

About 7,200 megawatts of electricity will be generated from solar and other renewable energy sources come 2020, the Federal Government has said.

This is subject to the 40,000MW generation target set by the government for the same period.

The government expects the power generation to peak at 40,000MW by 2020, with more capacities from Mambilla, Zungeru large hydros, grid power from solar, wind and coal-to-power initiative.

It said 18 per cent of the nation’s power need would be generated from renewable energy sources.

This is contained in a document obtained from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission on Friday which was presented at the Nigeria Photovoltaic Energy Conference (Solarcon 2014) in Lagos.

The commission said this was in line with the government’s draft renewable energy master plan, providing for 18 per cent of the electricity installed capacity from renewable energy.

In the presentation titled, ‘Viability of solar energy based electricity grid – regulatory challenges and opportunities’, NERC said Nigeria had enormous solar energy potential but was not exploiting it in significant capacity.

According to the commission, electricity is a required input for economic growth and an indicator of the level of development of a country, adding that a successful economy would depend on secure, safe and efficient supply and the use of electricity.

It said, “Access to electricity in the rural area will reduce the rural-urban drift and enhance the development of the rural economy. Grid supplies are usually the cheapest option in areas with high load densities, as well as in areas near the grid. However, a number of challenges militate against grid-connected solar-energy- sources electricity supply.”

For grid power, it said high costs of installation and wiring provided by utilities were high, and large land area remained a requirement.

NERC said, “It cannot respond to automatic generation control signals from the control centre; and connecting small, isolated villages to a grid can be expensive because of the necessary investment in transmission lines, poles, transformers and other infrastructure.

“Solar PV power comes in relatively small size, and is best connected to low voltage lines whereas Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trader buys power only at transmission voltage.”

The commission also stated that the nation would effectively harness solar energy resources and integrate them with other energy resources, and promote the use of efficient solar energy conversion technologies, such as the use of photo-voltaic and concentrated solar panels for power generation.

Solar energy, it added, would be generated for productive use, as the nation would intensify efforts to increase the percentage of solar energy in the present energy mix.

For the solar market, NERC said the following incentives were implied in the feed-in tariff; guaranteed market; priority grid connection and off-take; simplified licensing/permit process; concessionary tariff rates and facilitated land acquisition/site access.”

Other recommended policy incentives, it said, included tax holidays, import duty exemptions and investment tax credits.

Prof. Titilayo Kuku of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, said there was a high degree of correlation between the energy use, economic growth and the level of development.

The climate change due to green house gases emissions and turbulence in oil and gas prices, according to him, has turned global attention to green energy sources, which are environmentally friendly, adding that the major components of the green energy sources are renewable energy sources.

Kuku said, “That Nigeria is currently facing an energy crisis is an understatement. With the current generated capacity of about 4,000MW for a population of about 170 million, with energy per capita of 30 Watts, the country is in dire straits regarding energy sufficiency with the attendant consequences on all developmental indicators of employment, growth, production, cost of production, security, general wellbeing, among others.

“Promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency in Nigeria will address the challenges highlighted above. Green energy/renewable energy are cleaner sources of energy, and therefore are sustainable forms of energy.

“Renewable energy can continuously be harvested because they are inexhaustible in supply and have been considered by most developing countries as an essential component of extending access to affordable energy.”

Tambuwal Drops Out Of Presidential Race, Find Out Why

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal earlier today dropped his presidential ambitions after consultations with All Progressives Congress (APC)chieftains who are strong backers of retired General Muhammadu Buhari. Tambuwal will now contest for the position of governor in his home state of Sokoto according to impeccable sources close to the speaker. One source told Saharareporters that Tambuwal was “begged” by Buhari people to step down so as not to sabotage his budding ambition as APC’s consensus candidate in the upcoming party primaries. Mr. Tambuwal sent tongues wagging when he recently decamped to the APC after which series of events followed including the withdrawal of his police protection reportedly on the orders of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Tambuwal drops from race

Nigerian army retakes control of key Boko Haram town

Insurgents lose town where school girls were kidnapped after battle with government forces

The Nigerian army said it had recaptured the northeastern town of Chibok on Sunday, where Islamic militants abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in April, provoking a wave of global outrage.

Control of Chibok is crucial to the reputation of the government of President Goodluck Jonathan and the military, which have both come under fire at home and abroad for their failure to rescue the girls.

The army recaptured the town from Boko Haram militants late Saturday, said spokesman General Olajide Olaleye.

"Mopping up ops ongoing. (The) town is now secured," he told AFP.

The operation came just days after Jonathan on Tuesday announced his bid for re-election, vowing to defeat Boko Haram whose brutal five-year insurgency has plagued his first term in office.Leading elder Pogu Bitrus told AFP that Chibok was recaptured in a joint operation with local vigilantes known as the Civilian Joint Task Force, who back up the military in several parts of the northeast where Boko Haram is active.

He said the vigilantes fought inside Chibok while army soldiers "stayed outside the town to mop up the insurgents trying to escape".

Boko Haram fighters had captured the town on Thursday after a battle lasting several hours that local officials said left many victims among both the insurgents and the local militias.

Several residents said the army had fled the assault, leaving the vigilantes to fight on their own against Boko Haram.

There was no immediate information about any casualties from Saturday's battle for the town, which witnesses say is virtually empty of residents.

Chibok, in the northeast Borno state, has been under a global media spotlight since Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls there in April, most of whom are still being held.

The Islamists stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok on the evening of April 14 and forced the students onto trucks in a mass abduction that brought unprecedented attention to Boko Haram's insurgency.

Fifty-seven managed to escape.

After capturing Chibok on Thursday, Boko Haram militants torched its churches, although most of the town was already mostly in ruins after the April attack.

The local police station and government offices were never rebuilt.

Neighbouring villages were also set ablaze during Thursday's battle.

Despite its sparse resources, the Civilian Joint Task Force appears to have become a substitute for the army in many areas of the restive northeast of Nigeria.

Armed with bows, machetes, clubs and homemade rifles, the fighters retook the commercial hub of Mubi in southern Borno state from Boko Haram with the help of hunters.

The insurrection by Boko Haram, which wants to create an Islamic state in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria, has claimed more than 10,000 lives in the past five years.

The militants have seized more than 20 towns and villages in the northeast in recent months despite pledges by Jonathan to boost security.

Jonathan, who has been heavily criticised for his response to the abduction and only met with the hostages' families in July, pledged last week to rescue the kidnapped girls as he announced his re-election bid.