• As ISIS, Rebuffed in Iraq, Syria; Now Threatens Libya

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki on Tuesday said all political stakeholders in Nigeria, especially from 1999 till date, are guilty of the predicament that the country is currently, arguing that no one should be spared.

He said all public office holders in Nigeria since 1999, were involved in at different times in the mistakes of the past that led the country to the present political and economic mess.

Saraki said this against the backdrop of allegation of profligacy levelled by former President Olusegun Obasanjo against the National Assembly as contained in a letter he wrote to the leadership some few days ago.

As if providing an answer to the posers by Obasanjo on National Assembly budget, Saraki during a meeting with Senate Correspondent said it was wrong for anybody to hold an individual or group of people responsible for the mess of the past.

He said, ” We’ve all been here since 1999 up to the recent past when things were not done right, we are all part of it. I was there, you were there, every other political office holder in different capacities were there as well.

“My own view ‪from the 8th National Assembly is that the time for collective participation for the good of all Nigerians is here with us in line with the change mantra of the present administration.

We are all on the same page for things to be done differently. “I think what we need now from all stakeholders , is more of cooperation, encouragement and participation as oppose to trying to hold one person responsible for the mistakes of the past that we are all part of .It is clearly not the right thing needed now.

“I Appeal to you, I appeal to all Nigerians that we should work together just as I assure you all that we will do well here in NASS to practically complement the change agenda”.

In the meantime, the international war on ISIS is “making a difference” in Iraq and Syria but the terror group is resurgent in Libya and could seize that nation’s oil wealth, Secretary of State John Kerry warned Tuesday.

Kerry credited the deployment of U.S. Special Forces inside Syria, training programs for anti-ISIS fighters and upgraded intelligence for helping push ISIS back.

“We are surely not here to brag about anything… but our persistence, our unity, our concerted commitment from every different country in whichever way you are committed, is all making a difference,” Kerry told ministers and officials from 23 countries at a conference in Rome.

He said the advances against ISIS have been “pretty remarkable” despite recent ISIS-inspired attacks in Turkey, Paris and San Bernardino, California.

“We’re not telling people we’re there yet but we are seeing that our concerted effort is moving in the right direction,” Kerry said.

Still, he warned there were signs that ISIS could regroup in other countries, “particularly Libya.”

He told his audience that it was essential that Libya’s new unity government maintains an edge over terrorists, especially given the country’s resources.

“The last thing in the world you want is a false caliphate with access to billions of dollars of oil revenue,” Kerry said.

He stressed the need to push “full speed ahead” in training security personnel and creating a “safe environment” for a government to stand up and operate.

“This is, I think, a major obligation for those countries — us among them — who were there at the very beginning when we felt compelled to protect the people… being slaughtered by the dictator of the country,” Kerry said.

At a later news conference, the secretary of state also called for efforts to reach a ceasefire in Syria in order to end human suffering — such as the starvation deaths in Madaya — and to weaken ISIS.

“This tactic to use famine as a weapon of war is illegitimate,” he said. “Do we want to defeat [ISIS] quickly? So let’s negotiate the end of the war in Syria as soon as possible. That would weaken [ISIS].”

Daily Times with additional report from NBC