BUHARI 2019: BOLA TINUBU ON A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.

ICHEOKU says how anybody will campaign for President Muhammad Buhari reelection in 2019, faced with all the things that have gone wrong in Nigeria under his watch, is simply beyond fathom. With which face would anyone stand and explain to Nigerians why the APC's 'hope and change' mantra, which they voted for in 2015, virtually turned sour; and have remained unfulfilled three years down the road, and literary turned APC into an All Promises Cancelled disaster. Like a bad product, selling or marketing President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigerians in 2019, will definitely be an uphill difficult, if not impossible, task to pull off. 

President Muhammadu Buhari has unenviably earned the singular dishonor of being the most hated and loathed president Nigeria ever had; such that no right thinking Nigerian would willingly vote for him again to continue in office in 2019. He has not kept faith with the Nigerian people, whose goodwill he fretted away when he failed to honor his election promises to improve their lives. Like American Queen Crooked Hillary Clinton to the Democratic Party,  President Muhammadu Buhari has become more of a liability to the All Progressive Congress than an asset. He lost it all and his hitherto electoral invincibility as a disciplined corruption-free military man has since also been eroded; particularly by his crass cronyism and the unfortunate political poison pill which he took when he distinguished and differentiated Nigerians into two groups, the 5% and the 97%. His lopsided appointments and complete exclusion of an entire one third of the country, Ndigbo, from key positions in his government will hurt him greatly. The president did not do enough either to improve his electoral fortunes in those areas that consider themselves victims of his nepotism and cronyism. 

Boko Haram is still taking its toll on Nigerians. Corruption is still ravaging Nigeria. Power supply has not improved. Overall security has further been compounded by the addition of terrorists Fulani herdsmen who are causing immense havoc in the land, leaving a trail of sorrow, blood and tears in their wake. Unemployment is still rife. So what exactly are the underlying strengths of President Muhammadu Buhari which Nigerians would like to continue to see and enjoy; and which will persuade them to want to keep him around for much longer and which will make them to vote for him in 2019. These are some of the multi dimensional questions which anyone campaigning for Buhari-2019 will first have to convincingly answer to Nigerians, before they will accord him any serious second look. How can anyone convince Nigerians that a Buhari who could not deliver on the two main planks of his 2015 mandate, war on corruption and insecurity, will suddenly become who he is not and that anyone should take him serious with his promise to take Nigeria to another level come 2019. The general feeling in the land is that if he could not do it in his first term, there is no guarantee that he will do it with a second term mandate in 2019; and bridging this gap of distrust is a heavy duty task for Bola Tinubu and Rotimi Amaechi to pull off. 

Therefore ICHEOKU is not envious of the current task which Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu is saddled with to reconcile the various factions within the moribund APC. As a correlation, by accepting to work for President Muhammadu Buhari's reelection campaign, Bola Tinubu  has embarked on a mission impossible and only by special miracle will he mission accomplish this time around. ICHEOKU is emphatic that 2019 will not be a walk in the park like 2015 was and APC will need all the help they can get to retain their President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock. President Muhammadu Buhari has lost all the goodwill which endeared him to the hearts of those Nigerians who swarmed around him in 2015 to elect him president. With no electoral rain check left for him to cash in 2019, only a feat of improbable proportion will see President Muhammadu Buhari through to a second term. What a tall order Bola Tinubu and co have in their task to help win President Muhammdu Buhari a second term and they definitely have their work cut out for them. 

ICHEOKU says no one captured this dire strait in which APC found themselves with their President Muhammadu Buhari's disappointing or rather lack of performance during his first term more than Rotimi Amaechi, when he eloquently stated: “It was not easy electing Buhari the last time, but it will certainly be more difficult this time. Expectations were too high and we did not meet those expectation." ICHEOKU says completely agrees that Rotimi Amaechi summation was right on the money; and that baring any miracle of election, President Muhammadu Buhari will end up being just a one term president, who Nigerians regretted ever electing in the first place and wished they never did. But as with everything in life, never say never is always a good hedge and until the election comes and goes, no one should ever rule out anything including a possible President Muhammadu Buhari's reelection in 2019. 

"RUSSIAN COLLUSION" UPDATE: 13 RUSSIANS PLUS MORE INDICTED.

ICHEOKU says in what seems like the nearing of the end of the road in the ongoing Robert Mueller Special Counsel investigation of the Russian Collusion into the 2016 American presidential election, 13 Russian nationals and three other Russian groups were indicted today by the Justice Department. 

Their offense was interfering with the 2016 United States of America presidential election by allegedly creating aliases and assuming false personas of American citizens which they used as a cover to interfere with the presidential election. According to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, it is a reminder that somethings and people are not always what they seem or appear to be, especially on the Internet. Further, that the Russians primary objective was to create and promote discord in America and undermine the public confidence in America's democracy. That their goal was to support now-President Trump's campaign and to hurt Democrat Hillary Clinton's, and that some defendants while posing as U.S. people communicated with "unwitting individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activists to seek to coordinate political activities. 

ICHEOKU says if as alleged, the Russians allegedly talked to some American people and were advised to focus their efforts on swing states such as "Colorado, Virginia and Florida, two of which, Virginia and Colorado, Hillary Clinton won and Trump won the other one Florida,  how successful then was the Russians attempt to help the then candidate Donald Trump become president if he lost two out of the three swing States they had focused their efforts on. 

The Russian meddling efforts, which began in 2014, was connected to an Internet Research Agency based in St. Petersburg Russia, which leveraged Facebook and other social media platforms to spread divisive messages among Americans months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. ICHEOKU says if the Russian meddling effort began in 2014, one year before Donald Trump entered into active partisan politics with his declaration of intent to run for the presidency in 2015, what then is the collusion nonsense he is being accused of, really about? The Russians were already in the heat of their game, "meddling" with American politics, long before Trump jumped into partisan politics. So why then accuse him of starting or colluding with what preceded him? Certain things does not in fact make any sense and this investigation cockamamie do smell of an ongoing effort to still deliver an outcome which will suit a predetermined narrative. The Never-Trumpers had their goal fixed and must therefore manufacture incredulous tales to help drive the ball into their preset post. Simply incredible. 

It is also instructive that the same indicted people and groups organized and staged those anti Trump rallies soon following his election victory and sponsored all those Vagina-hat wearing women as well as Black Lives Matters protests that nearly achieved their objective to cause political turmoil in America. So fundamentally, the Russians were not actually interested in who wins the election, provided they sowed discord within American polity and damage the believe of Americans in their democratic political process. The Russians also tried to encourage minority groups to boycott the election and not to vote for either Trump or Clinton in the last 2016 presidential election because neither represents their interest; and/or if they must, to vote for a third party candidate in protest. They also promoted voter fraud allegations just to cause trouble and create disillusion among Americans.

Lastly, the Deputy Attorney General said that there is no allegation in the indictment that Americans had any knowledge of the Russian clandestine meddling operation. Also that there is no allegation that the Russian meddling influenced the final outcome of the election. ICHEOKU says this is actually the meat of the indictment announcement as it said that "no American" and Trump's team were all Americans; and secondly that whatever the Russians did or did not do did not affect the final outcome of the election. Then query, what is the Robert Mueller's investigation still doing, staying alive, when no American knew nor was involved with the Russians in their collusion and there can be no collusion without knowledge or intent to so collude. Further, if whatever the Russians did or did not do, had no effect in the final outcome of the election, what then is the purpose of all this waste of time and resources on a fantastic Russian Collusion. 

Anyway, the innocent will always be vindicated as the Russian Collusion fable is gradually collapsing on its own weightless weight. It never happened. It was a manufactured ruse by the Democrats to save face from fielding the most hated wild eyed crazed out feminist candidate no real American liked nor loved enough to push her through the presidential finish line. Worst still, they lost to a novitiate first timer candidate President Donald John Trump and it made the lost more painful. But their plot is unraveling and soon the Special Counsel is expected to come out and publicly put an end to the Russian Collusion charade. Until then, ICHEOKU agrees with the DAG that the United States of America going forward must work to ensure that such conspiracies to affect elections' outcome do not succeed in undermining the nation's democracy. Also that American agencies will continue to work tirelessly to defend our nation against similar current and future schemes.

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA: A SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE

“And I will do this as a servant of the people because I do believe that when one is elected, you basically become a servant of the people of South Africa. And I will seek to execute that task with humility, with faithfulness and with dignity as well. That is what I will seek to do. Thank you all for this great opportunity that I’ve been given. I will try to work very hard not to disappoint the people of South Africa.” - Cyril Ramaphosa, President, South Africa.

ICHEOKU says definitely a right tone to flag off his presidency. Provided he translates his words into action by putting his money where his mouth is, he will succeed as president. ICHEOKU says congratulations Mr President CR.

JACOB ZUMA: MAKES A GRACIOUS EXIT.

"No life should be lost in my name and also the ANC should never be divided in my name. I have therefore come to the decision to resign as President of the Republic with immediate effect. Even though I disagree with the decision of the leadership of my organization, I have always been a disciplined member of the ANC." - Jacob Zuma, former President, South Africa.

ICHEOKU says certainly a gracious and selfless exit. Goodluck JZ and may God see you through your retirement. Thank you Jacob for accepting to relinquish the office and peacefully too. Like former President Jonathan Goodluck of Nigeria, they rose above self, recognizing that no blood of the citizens should be shed in their names. Worthy of emulation, especially in the African continent where so many despot would rather continuously shed the blood of the citizens than to yield the office. Congratulations.

MORGAN TSVANGIRAI: DEAD AT 65

ICHEOKU says Uncle Robert Mugabe finaly outlived him; admitted he put up a good fight trying to be president of Zimbabwe. He was 65 years old and died of colon cancer. May his soul now rest. Adieu Morgan.

FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL: VALENTINE DAY MASSACRE IN USA BY NIKOLAS CRUZ.

ICHEOKU says it is now part of life in the United States of America that every now and then, another crazed out gunman will pick up weapon and summarily murder innocent people including school children. The latest was in Parkland Florida where a discipline challenged and expelled former student returned for vengeance, killing 17 and wounding 14 others including students, teachers and staff. The gunman was identified as 19 year old Nikolas Cruz was taken alive by police. 

ICHEOKU says school shootings in the United States of America is becoming a recurring decimal and short of fully policing our schools, with armed guards and metal detectors installed at gates of entry, it is unfortunate that we might have to get used to such dastardly acts and pray that those crazed out individuals who want to perpetrate such carnage do not succeed with the frequency with which they succeed. And on a Valentine Day, February 14th, which happens to also be Catholic's Ash Wednesday, a day for love that this demented individual decided to cause so much sorrow. 

It is pitiful and it is despicable and may God help the grieving and bereaved families heal and give the wounded a full recovery. What a troubled soul this animal in human skin is that the police would have just killed and spared the nation the cost of putting him through trial and possibly long prison sentence or awaiting execution, following an assured conviction. What a sad day it turned out to be for a day meant for love but which this beast just turned it into one of hate and sorrow. 

BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA PORTRAITS OF ABSURDITY: MERE CARICATURES.

ICHEOKU says whose portraits are they anyway that were passed off as the representation of former President Barack Hussein Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, which the National Portraits Gallery unveiled to the world today.  ICHEOKU is not impressed and so are millions of world wide citizens including Americans, who did not see the two portraits as the accurate and true rendering of both public figures. 

The Barack Obama painting depicts an older man than the man who just left the White House only last November 2016. Although the image could safely be used to track him down should he go missing; but the damage done to Michelle Obama is such that she is practically unrecognizable and cannot be identified with the image. Put in another way, the image rendered on the canvass or whatever the material it is, was not the former First Lady's. 

No explanation is sufficient to cushion or sugarcoat the damage, regardless of the spin. It was a poor rendition and it turned out uglier than the former First Lady is ugly. Just take a god look at the portrait and you will see a Michelle Obama's body but without her face; somewhat an imposed stranger's face on her body. 

Anyway, who knows what the intention of the First Couple are in deciding to use this two portraits as what they want to be remembered by for their time in the White House. But whatever their intention and believing that they were consulted during the painting and supervised them while they progressed, and subsequently approved the final outcome before it was presented to the public, the country deserved better. ICHEOKU regrets that the artists who worked on the paintings did a very bad job and will not hire them to paint even a worst enemy. They were mediocre at best and not good at what they do and did. 

New York-based artist Kehinde Wiley and Baltimore based artist Amy Sherald who painted Barack Obama and Michelle Obama respectively for the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, will certainly not get more job referrals by reason of this their works. Very poorly rendered. ICHEOKU is not satisfied as a more experienced artist could have been retained and would have done a better job. SAD.

WINTER OLYMPICS PYEONGCHANG 2018: FLAGS OFF.

ICHEOKU says South Korea is hosting the world of Winter Olympics 2018. A stellar preparation and spectacular performances so far. Congratulations to the host country and the gathered athletes who are gathered in Pyeongchang South Korea for the event.

PERCHED AND REVVING TO ITS ALEINS RENDEZVOUS

ICHEOKU says science and technology is awesome. They make the seemingly impossible, possible. Elon Musk's personal Tesla Roadster enroute to Mars atmospheric orbit. Congratulations to Elon Musk and his SpaceX and Tesla teams.

OBAMA: WHAT DID HE KNOW?

ICHEOKU says what did former President Barack Hussein Obama know and when did he know it. America people must demand of their leaders a full disclosure and full accountability in the unfolding FBI released memo scandal. Only by getting to the bottom of the matter will American people regain their confidence in their law enforcement agencies.

FBI MEMO FILES: SCANDAL

"POTUS WANTS TO KNOW EVERYTHING WE ARE DOING." - Lisa Page to boyfriend Peter Strzok, two FBI officials. 

ICHEOKU says and the POTUS then was President Barack Hussein Obama, who then denied and lied to the American people that he does not dabble into any FBI's investigative matter. Really? 

SPACE-X FALCON HEAVY FERRIES OUT TESLA INTO SPACE

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, 229 foot tall world's most powerful rocket, roared off into space on the power of 27 engines and nearly 5 million pounds of thrust, carrying a payload of Elon Musk's cherry red Tesla Roadster, on what the founder of both SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk, said is a "just for fun and to get the public excited" journey into the asteroid belt well beyond Mars. 

Addressing the media on the successful launch, Elon Musk said: "I'm really excited about today, incredibly proud of the SpaceX team. They've done an incredible job of creating what really is the most advanced rocket in the world, the biggest rocket in the world. I'm still trying to absorb everything that happened because it seems surreal to me. We estimate it'll be in that orbit for several hundred million years, maybe in excess of a billion years." 

ICHEOKU says simply fabulous. What a great fit of engineering by a very brainy and brilliant people. Congratulations to Elon Musk and company.

TOM BRADY: KARMA CAUGHT UP WITH HIM IN MINNEAPOLIS.

ICHEOKU says for any person, especially a man, to leave his friend hanging in the hour of his most need of him, says a lot about the character of such person. Tom Brady was President Donald John Trump's good friend, a buddy, with whom he has shared so many private jets hours and also played several golf together. But last year when the whole world was piling up on the president, instead of showing his support in solidarity, TB became a no show and to make matters worse, he boycotted the Patriots victory visit to the White House and to the chagrin of the president. 

A lot of watery excuses were made for his absence but Americans knew better. Americans saw a wossie whose wife wears the pantsuit in his house and who could not stand up to his wife and tell her that as a team captain Quarterback, he has to lead his boys to the White House; and she better put up with it or shut the f**k up and at worse, get himself another wife if she walks. But TB wavered and abandoned his long time friend when his presence at the White House would have meant the whole world to the president. The president and millions of American irredeemable deplorables have not forgotten and will never forget the dissing Tom Brady gave to the leader of Team MAGA, President Donald John Trump, just because his wife, who he could easily replace, made him. What a friend the president has in Tom Brady; and you ask yourself with a friend like Tom Brady, does President Donald John Trump need an enemy.

But the Almighty God to whom we all pray to was not asleep nor would he let Tom Brady shine as usual after his great betrayal of a president who did nothing to deserve his sudden turn back on him. So in Super Bowl LII, in Minneapolis Minnesota, the good Lord sent the great Karma to go remind Tom Brady how not to be bad friend. Tom Brady and his New England Patriots were denied another moment in the sun of winning the NFL championship, as an underdog Philadelphia Eagles defeated them. ICHEOKU says whoever said that the good Karma ever goes to sleep. Simply put, a payback time for Tom Brady for abandoning his friend President Donald John Trump, just because of the convenience of political correctness and what was popular; and forgetting the road they traveled together prior. SAD.

THE RELEASED FBI FISA MEMO: UNMASKED THE MOTHER OF ALL COLLUSIONS.

ICHEOKU says the most disturbing thing arising from the released memo is the implicit corruption within the upper echelon of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Justice Department; two organs of government empowered to enforce the laws of the United States of America. The very thing that makes third world non functioning countries not functional - corruption; and this is the sole reason the matter must be pursued to its logical conclusion, in order to prevent any future such violations and once again reestablish the confidence of the American people in both departments. 

So many lawyers have been taken down for trying to bribe witnesses and pervert justice; so many judges have been dealt with for taking bribes; as well as Congress men and women, some of who served terms in prison and are still serving terms for trying to corrupt the system; all thanks to the investigative prowess of the FBI. As for ordinary Joe and Jill citizens of America, several thousands of them have been taken down and punished through the instrumentality of both the FBI and DOJ as well; hence both organs of law enforcement must be made to practice what they preach by forcing them to stay above board and atop of every fray. They have to be held accountable for their present involvement in the matter leading up to the last election and attempt to subvert the election of President Donald John Trump and sabotage his presidency. Simply put, what they did was both grave and unacceptable to our solemn trust in their law enforcement infallibility.

Therefore allowing the current unfolding sordid drama to go unpunished is condoning a cancer which will eventually eat into the very fabric that holds and makes America exceptional. The people must not be made to lose faith in the very backbone of our justice system and only getting to the very root of the matter and punishing everyone implicated therein is the only acceptable action that will assuage the current matter. It does not matter who goes to prison over the scandal and everyone implicated thereto must be made to face the justice which they tried to pervert by colluding to subvert an American presidential election. Any other thing, conclusion or opinion is simply unacceptable and should not be canvassed nor entertained, period. 

Finally Americans have now seen who actually participated in the real "RUSSIAN COLLUSION"; yet they were chasing the wind all along, pointing Americans to the wrong direction. possibly in their attempt to hoodwink the American people and prevent them from seeing who in fact are the culpable parties here. It is a very sad day for all those who have been sent away for corruption as well as the entire American people whose faith in the justice system has been so supremely shaken up with what the released memo revealed. How else can anyone sum it up than to say it was the mother of all collusion. 

PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI: HIS HEART IS WITH HIS FULANI PEOPLE.

ICHEOKU says actually blames those novitiate Nigerians who were expecting something different from President Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani first and Nigerian second, inexplicable president of Nigeria. A man with such a storied pro Fulani credentials dating way back in his days as Lt Colonel in the Nigerian army that fought the Biafran civil war and continuing till the present. Yet some Nigerians are living in denial and wishing that what is not there could magically assume a form and effervesce to reality. It is only in Nigeria that holograms are mistaken for real people and expected to perform like humans with blood in their veins and brain in their cranial cavity. As for ICHEOKU and other rightly  thinking Nigerians, we are not surprised by the president's current antics, particularly his soft heart for the Fulani people. Rather, we would have been surprised had the president been any different or acting any differently and in any other way, short of his current Fulanization of Nigeria escapade. 

Simply put, there is no reasonable basis for any right thinking Nigerian to, based on the president's storied antecedents and precedents, justify any such expectation that President Muhammadu Buhari would be a fair minded Nigerian president; who is not biased for his Fulani roots. This is a man who never left Nigerians in doubt as to where his true loyalty lies and had consistently proved and showed it whenever the opportunity  arose. Therefore, nobody and no Nigerian should now blame him for trying to unifying his  Fulani people of Niger Republic with their Fulani kits and kins of Northwestern Nigeria into one formidable power bloc and whatever arranged political unit he desires or will craft out sometime later in the future. Fulani United globalization bug seemed to have bitten the president and his mission has now apparently changed from leading Nigeria towards attaining greatness to organizing a strong Fulani caliphate which will be competitively relevant in the affairs of the world, particularly in Nigeria and Africa in general.

This is a man who as then Head of State, locked up in a maximum security prison a Vice President while placing the Fulani president in a luxurious home arrest, simply because he is a Fulani and better than the rest. Here is a president who as then Head of State, while prosecuting his supposed War Against Indiscipline and locking up politicians in long prison sentences for corruption, allowed his Fulani ADC Jokolo, to clear 53 suitcases loaded with currency and other valuables belonging to his Fulani father and then Emir of Gwandu from the customs and without consequence or paying necessary import duties or undergoing normal routine Custom's clearance of imported goods. Here is a president who as then Head of State, sided and sponsored a Fulani man from Niger Republic Ide Oumaru for the Secretary General of then Organization of African Unity and against his fellow Nigerian country man and then already Acting Secretary General Peter Onu. Any Nigerian who would expect such a man, who could take such audacious Fulani action, to suddenly become more Nigerian, needs to have his or her head examined. 

Here is a man who then as a "bloody" civilian led a twenty vehicle convoy to Agodi Ibadan to protest to then Governor Lam Adesina that "your people are killing my people", arising from a Fulani crash with local indigenes. Then he continued threatening the lives of baboons and dogs and even took some lives of baboon and dogs; and was planning to take more lives of baboon and dogs until Goodluck Jonathan conceded an election which was otherwise heavily rigged by Fulani people for their Fulani great uncle and now President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari. These disposable baboons and dogs are definitely not of Fulani stock, otherwise he would not have made them an endangered specie. That thousands of Fulani from Niger Republic and Chad were bused in during the last presidential election to boost the voters in Kano, Bauchi and other Fulani border communities of Northern Nigeria is a fact. That thousands of underage Fulani almajiris voted in that election was also a fact. 

The present Inspector General of Police as then police commissioner in Kano oversaw the mouth numbing rigging that witnessed a 100% voter turnout in Kano. The first of its kind in any part of the world, where no registered person died, relocated, traveled, was indisposed, in hospital, incarcerated was unable to vote; but it happened in Kano State under another crazed-out Fulani Governor Kwankwanso and they broke out for their Fulani big brother and uncle President Muhammadu Buhari. The IGP was handsomely rewarded with the coveted position of the IGP for his brazen audacity during the election in Kano State which also saw the resident Electoral Commissioner burnt to death alongside his family to prevent his threatened exposure of what took place in that election.

Then add the Fulani INEC chairman Jega who skewed the election for the Fulani desired outcome and of course the Fulani heads of NSA, Defense etc, whose all goal was to engineer a power shift back to the North, despite serving under the pleasure of an incumbent Southerner who appointed them to office. But atypical of the Fulani people, their loyalty is first to the Fulani tribe before any other thing comes a distant second. So without an organized Fulani consensus to elect President Muhammadu Buhari president and conspiracy against then incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, there would not have been a President Muhammadu Buhari today. Understandably, a grateful president who knows that he owes so much to his Fulani brothers for his presidency, decided to go all out of his way to show them much love. His gratitude and appreciation for the honor of having made him president, saw him rewarding his Fulani foot soldiers, who midwifed and made possible his presidency against all odds, with the headship of practically every security agencies in the country as well as other very juicy parastatals. 

When you add his first trip abroad which was to the citadel of Fulani in Africa, Agadez, Niger Republic, to pay homage to his roots and to show where his heart really lies, then the picture of his unalloyed loyalty gets clearer. He got away with that and now his Fulani brothers herdsmen are running amok throughout the country without reprisals and being protected by their big uncle in Aso Rock. His latest mantra is that seven Fulani lives are worth more than 73 Tiv lives and the Fulani axe men's brigandage and spilling of blood is continuing, unabated and unchecked in the country; simply because their big brother or rather great uncle is in Aso Rock. That done, he ordered the minister of Transport to build a railroad from Daura to Niger Republic while depriving the entire Southeast of Nigeria such infrastructural development. The same man had a 1000 kilometer of pipeline constructed and completed, bringing crude oil from Niger Republic to Kaduna refinery, since becoming president. His latest Fulani project is the refinery he is now proposing to build at the tip of Katsina State that will be fed with crude oil from Niger Republic. 

ICHEOKU completely and fully understands that people tends to gravitate towards their father's lineage and President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria should not be an exception or expected to otherwise be any different. His biological father, Mallam Muhammadu Buhari Sr, a duck seller, was from Agadez, Niger Republic. According to his story, it was during  one of his business trips to sell his ducks in Daura that he was lovestruck with the president's mother and the rest they say became history. But that is not without saying that a child cannot take the citizenship of his or her mother as well; but Nigerians should cut the president some slacks and put on the president's lenses in order to see why the president's heart is somewhere other than in Nigeria and his love for his kindred in Niger Republic is profound. His father's people are his people; and even ICHEOKU would be so similarly smitten if the president; a man who has now become the most successful son of Niger Republic who achieved greatness by becoming president of the most populous country in Africa. That definitely is a milestone and every culture celebrates their successful stories. 

So Nigerians, please stop, cease and desist, from castigating the president's overtures to his people across the border up North as blood is thicker than water. Fulani existed as a people long before the British created the contraption called Nigeria and still remains indissoluble. He shares the same DNA with them and maintains other cultural affinities with the Fulani people and his heart, lies with them and the president is eminently entitled to so do. Therefore, let Nigerians show some understanding instead of the current reproach and if they are still mad, to next time, vote for a real Nigerian for Nigerian president because foreigners will always identify with their own people. Even Joseph identified with his Israeli people; as well as Moses who left his epicurean heights in Pharaoh's Egypt to be with his people and even killed an Egyptian in defense of his Jewish own people. Then President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama, left his heart in Kenyan, despite being the president of the most powerful country in the world. Yes, it is the heart and most times, it controls all of our actions and President Muhammadu Buhari is just a victim of his heart.

THE MEMO: THE CRITICAL POINTS OF CONFLICT.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe admitted that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISA court without the Michael Steele's dossier information. Michael Steele was engaged by Hillary Clinton's campaign and Fusion GPS to obtain dirt information on then candidate Donald John Trump which subsequently produced the infamous Steele's dossier. 

Michael Steele admitted to then Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr that he “was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not, being president.” Bruce Ohr's wife was also then employed by the same Fusion GPS which hired Michael Steele to help it with digging up dirt on Trump. But Bruce Ohr kept this critical bias information and the fact that his own wife was also employed in the illicit dirty job activities by the same Fusion GPS out of the Justice department application to the FISA court to obtain a surveillance warrant that led up to the Russian probe. 

ICHEOKU says the web of conspiracy could not be any clearer: first you have a desperate Michael Steele who is out to stop the election of Donald Trump by all and every means necessary. Then you have interest of financial gains through employment, which probably persuaded the hiding of the vital information from the FISA court. The information could have negated the issuance of the warrant and without which the court might have otherwise declined its issuance. Yet somebody is saying what; that the Russian Investigation is not a big ruse or as the president would say, a political WITCH hunt.

THE MEMO: THE INFAMOUS FBI AND DOJ ANTI TRUMP (FISA) DOSSIER.

Declassified by order of the President 

February 2, 2018

January 18, 2018

To: HPSCI Majority Members

From: HPSCI Majority Staff

Subject: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Abuses at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Purpose

This memorandum provides Members an update on significant facts relating to the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and their use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during the 2016 presidential election cycle. Our findings, which are detailed below, 1) raise concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), and 2) represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process.

Investigation Update 

On October 21, 2016, DOJ and FBI sought and received a FISA probable cause order (up; under Title VII) authorizing electronic surveillance on Carter Page from the FISC. Page is a US citizen who served as a volunteer advisor to the Trump presidential campaign. Consistent with requirements under FISA, the application had to be first certified by the Director or Deputy Director of the FBI. It then required the approval of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General (DAG), or the Senate confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division. The FBI and DOJ obtained one initial FISA warrant targeting Carter Page and three FISA renewals from the FISC. As required by statute (50 U.S.C. 1805 (d)(1)) a FISA order on an American citizen must be renewed by the FISC every 90 days and each renewal requires a separate finding of probable cause. Then-Director James Comey signed three FISA applications in question on behalf of the FBI, and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe signed one. Sally Yates, then-Acting DAG Dana Boente, and DAG Rod Rosenstein each signed one or more FISA applications on behalf of DOJ. 

Due to the sensitive nature of foreign intelligence activity, FISA submissions (including renewals) before the FISC are classified. As such, the public’s confidence in the integrity of the FISA process depends on the court’s ability to hold the government to the highest standard, particularly as it relates to surveillance of American citizens. However, the rigor in protecting the rights of Americans, which is reinforced by 90-day renewals of surveillance orders, is necessarily dependent on the government’s production to the court of all material and relevant facts. This should include information potentially favorable to the target of the FISA application that is known by the government. In the case of Carter Page, the government had at least four independent opportunities before the FISC to accurately provide an accounting of the relevant facts. However, our findings indicate that, as described below, material and relevant information was omitted.

1) The “dossier” compiled by Christopher Steele (Steele dossier) on behalf of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign formed an essential part of the Carter Page FISA application. Steele was a longtime FBI source who was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and Clinton campaign, via the law firm Perkins Coie and research firm Fusion GPS, to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.

a) Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding Steele’s efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior DOJ and FBI officials.

b) The initial FISA application notes Steele was working for a named U.S. person, but does not name Fusion GPS and principal Glenn Simpson, who was paid by a U.S. law firm (Perkins Coie) representing the DNC (even though it was known by DOJ at the time that political actors were involved with the Steele dossier). The application does not mention Steele was ultimately working on behalf of—and paid by—the DNC and Clinton campaign, or that the FBI had separately authorized payment to Steele for the same information. 

2) The Carter Page FISA application also cited extensively a September 23, 2016, Yahoo News article by Michael Isikoff, which focuses on Page’s July 2016 trip to Moscow. This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News. The Page FISA application incorrectly assesses that Steele did not directly provide information to Yahoo News. Steele has admitted in British court filings that he met with Yahoo News—and several other outlets—in September 2016 at the direction of Fusion GPS. Perkins Coie was aware of Steele’s initial media contacts because they hosted at least one meeting in Washington DC in 2016 with Steele and Fusion GPS where this matter was discussed.

a) Steele was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI defines as the most serious of violations—an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI in an October 30, 2016, Mother Jones article by David Corn Steele should have been terminated for his previous undisclosed contacts with Yahoo and other outlets in September—before the Page application was submitted to the FISC in October—but Steele improperly concealed from and lied to the FBI about those contacts.

b) Steele’s numerous encounters with the media violated the cardinal rule of source handling—maintaining confidentiality—and demonstrated that Steele had become a less than reliable source for the FBI. 

3) Before and after Steele was terminated as a source, he maintained contact with DOJ via then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, a senior DOJ official who worked closely with Deputy Attorneys General Yates and later Rosenstein. Shortly after the election, the FBI began interviewing Ohr, documenting his communications with Steele. For example, in September 2016, Steele admitted to Ohr his feelings against then-candidate Trump when Steele said he “was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not, being president.” This clear evidence of Steele’s bias was recorded by Ohr at the time and subsequently in official FBI files— but not reflected in any of the Page FISA applications.

a) During this same time period, Ohr’s wife was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump. Ohr later provided the FBI with all of his wife’s opposition research, paid for by the DNC and Clinton campaign via Fusion GPS. The Ohrs’ relationship with Steele and Fusion GPS was inexplicably concealed from the FISC. 

4) According to the head of the counterintelligence division, Assistant Director Bill Priestap, corroboration of the Steele dossier was in its “infancy” at the time of the initial Page FISA application. After Steele was terminated, a source validation report conducted by an independent unit within FBI assessed Steele’s reporting as only minimally corroborated. Yet, in early January 2017, Director Comey briefed President-elect Trump on a summary of the Steele dossier, even though it was—according to his June 2017 testimony—“salacious and unverified.” While the FISA application relied on Steele’s past record of credible reporting on other unrelated matters, it ignored or concealed his anti-Trump financial and ideological motivations. Furthermore, Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information. 

5) The Page FISA application also mentions information regarding fellow Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, but there is no evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy between Page and Papadopoulos. The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok. Strzok was reassigned by the Special Counsel’s Office to FBI Human Resources for improper text messages with his mistress, FBI Attorney Lisa Page (no known relation to Carter Page), where they both demonstrated a clear bias against Trump and in favor of Clinton, whom Strzok had also investigated. The Strzok/Lisa Page texts also reflect extensive discussions about the investigation, orchestrating leaks to the media, and include a meeting with Deputy Director McCabe to discuss an “insurance” policy against President Trump’s election.