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Airline Operators Blame FAAN For Flight Delays, Cancellations, Reject Aviation Fuel Racketeering

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Airport

By Akinwale Kasali

The Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, has alleged that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, is responsible for the frequent delays and cancellations of flights due to the inadequacy of critical infrastructure at the airport.

It expressing its displeasure over numerous issues in the aviation industry which is in turn having a toll on their productivity and service delivery.

Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, speaking at a Press Briefing in Abuja, said that when it comes to flight delays and cancellations, so many things are involved which many people do not know but rather blame the airlines, adding that no airline in the world would want to delay flights because of the cost implications.

Onyema stressed that the Airline Operators are operating in a hostile environment with limited infrastructures in place.

“How would I just wake up and want to delay my flight when I know I am going to incur a heavy cost.

“The Airlines are at the mercy of everybody. The owners of airlines in Nigeria are patriotic because it is not profitable. They are doing it as a service to Nigeria and should be applauded, not demonised.

“Nigerian indigenous airlines are performing under certain conditions that we should be applauded for still staying afloat. Is it forex, or fuel infrastructure? How about bird strikes in a good country? the airlines would have gone to court against FAAN for all the bird strikes because we pay for these services. Air Peace alone had had over twenty bird strikes in a year.”

In the same vein, the Chairman, United Nigeria Airlines and Spokesperson for AON,  Obiora Okonkwo, said there is a huge racketeering in the aviation fuel imports to the detriment of the airlines.

According to him, aviation fuel selling above N800/litre is not acceptable as our calculation shows that it shouldn’t be selling above N500/litre.

He said: “The authorities should make forex available and do something about the fuel racketeering. We are paying above the real cost. We are not asking for free money nor subsidy but the right thing should be done as the burden is transferred to the travellers.”

MURIC Says Christian Owned Varsities Unsanitized, Advises Adherents To Avoid Them

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

An Islamic human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has advised intending Muslim students and their parents to avoid applying for admission into private universities owned by Christians, pending the time the National Universities Commission (NUC) would sanitize them.

The group alleged that Christian proprietors of private universities are yet to purge themselves of ‘tramadolised religiousity’ and deep-seated hatred for Muslims and their faith.

According to MURIC, this  manifests in forceful conversion of Muslim students, compelling them to attend church service and disallowing female Muslim students from using hijab.

In a statement on Thursday, the group’s director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, accused Christian owners of private universities of ‘gymnastic religiousity, religious intolerance and identity theft.’

“We have a litany of reports coming from Muslim students in private universities owned by Christians concerning anti-Muslim practices and religious apartheid.

“Muslim students are not allowed to practice their faith in those private universities. They cannot form Muslim students associations.

“Worse still, they are not given any space where they can pray. Hijab is an anathema in such institutions. Muslim students are forced to attend Christian service in the chapel where attendance registers are marked and absentees are sanctioned.

“These institutions have the poorest human rights records today. To Muslim parents and students, these institutions are comparable to torture chambers at least for the duration of their studentship.

“These actions amount to gymnastic religiousity, religious intolerance and identity theft on the part of Christian owners of private universities.

“It is religious intolerance when Christian school authorities fail to provide a place for Muslim students to pray. It is acrobatic spirituality when Muslim students are forced to attend church.

“It is identity theft when Christian school owners disallow female Muslim students from wearing hijab thereby making them look like Christians.

“This treatment is obnoxious, unlawful, illegal, illegitimate and unconstitutional. It is an existential threat to the religion of Islam.

“It also constitutes indubitable proof of complete desertification of religious tolerance in the vocabulary of owners of Christian private universities.

“One way out of this quagmire is for Muslim students and their parents to make proper investigations before applying for admission into any private university.

“Those found to be owned by Christians should be avoided at all cost because they are nothing but spiritual traps set for Muslims to lose their identities.

“Christian proprietors do not possess that magnanimity, liberality and broad mindedness to share what they have without attaching strings. They continue to assure us with their body language that Christian evangelism in Nigeria knows no decency, to them all is fair, particularly that which is foul.

“To them, Muslim students are not among those who should enjoy or exercise their Allah-given fundamental human rights. Human rights should be enjoyed by Christian students alone.

“We urge Muslim students and their parents to avoid Christian private universities pending the time that the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) will sanitize them or pending the time Christian owners of private universities would have eschewed religious bigotry or learned to live and let live.”

Democracy: Jonathan Calls For Collaboration Among Leaders

By
The Source
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Former President and Chairman of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Dr. Goodluck Ebele  Jonathan has called for better collaboration among serving and past leaders of the continent and all democratic actors in order to address the challenge of democratic reversals and issues affecting peaceful transfers of power in West Africa.

Jonathan stated this on Wednesday at a strategy meeting of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. In his opening remarks, the Nigerian leader observed that the friction between incumbent presidents and their predecessors was not in the best interest of democracy.

He said: “One grey area we have to look into is the observed antagonism between past leaders and serving leaders in some countries of the sub-region. This does not encourage the healthy practice of democracy.

“Also, in some of our countries, the democratic space appears to be shrinking. There is the need to figure out how to navigate through such challenge to grow democracy in West Africa and the rest of Africa.”

Jonathan noted that the focus of the forum was preventive diplomacy and that the purpose of the strategy meeting was to strategise how best to engage with stakeholders in West Africa ahead of the forthcoming elections in some countries.

“As a Forum, we believe so much in preventive diplomacy. One of our objectives is to ensure that we shore up the democratic gains of our region by meaningfully engaging different stakeholders, in a pragmatic and responsible manner.

“Meetings like this serve as an opportunity to review the gains, challenges and threats to peace and democracy in our sub-region and help us strategize on how to  mediate o that threats do not degenerate into conflicts

“As democrats, we believe elections are the cornerstone of democracy, and the activities surrounding the process could either make or mar the developmental aspirations of a nation.

“Election affords citizens the opportunity to have a say in their nation and gives them the opportunity to participate in the leadership recruitment process of their country.

“From recent events in Africa, we can draw a lesson on the relationship

between peaceful elections, democratic sustenance, and national stability.  This is why every process leading to the election is very important to the outcome of the poll.

“ In our sub-region, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia have scheduled general elections next year, and, as we know, elections could serve as a major trigger for violence and instability in our continent.

This is why it is important we closely monitor the electioneering processes in these countries and watch out for signs that may precipitate crisis. As elders, it is our responsibility to identify threats to the transition programmes in our sub-region and seek ways of proactively engaging relevant stakeholders toward resolving such challenges.”

Jonathan also called on those in “ government to redouble their efforts and commitment to democracy by ensuring that democracy translates to better welfare for the people.

Executive Director of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Mrs. Ann Iyonu, in welcome remarks, stated that :

“One of the principal objectives of the WAEF is to accompany West African countries in their various efforts at consolidating their democracies.

“In that regard, it has become very imperative to raise awareness and develop a collective sense of urgency in addressing some of the current trends threatening the peace, stability, and democratic governance of West Africa as the region races towards holding crucial elections in 2023, notably in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.”

Other participants at the events include the former President of Sierra Leone, Dr, Ernest Bai Koroma, former President of Benin,Mr. Boni Yayi, former Vice President of The Gambia  Fatoumata Tambajang, former  Head of  United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS, Mr. Ibn Chambas and members of the diplomatic corps.

The West African Elders’  Forum is an initiative of the Goodluck Jonathan  Foundation with support from the Open Society Foundation. (OSF)

APC Kicks Against Electronic Transmission of Results

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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Senator Abdullahi Adamu

Adamu Abdullahi, National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has expressed concern over the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commision, INEC to transmit election results electronically in next year’s election.

The chairman of INEC Prof Mahmood Yakubu has maintained that there is no going back on the commission’s decision not to transmit elections results manually as it was done in the past.

But speaking yesterday in Abuja the nation’s capital Adamu said the country is not ripe for the technol that the Electoral umpire is planning to deploy in the 2023 general elections.

He cited the problem of erratic power supply across the country as one of the reasons why INEC must reconsider its plan to transmit results electronically.

Adamu spoke on Wednesday at the APC national headquarters, when he received a delegation of the Commonwealth on a pre-election assessment.

According to him, “Our concern is how ready are we to deploy some of these technologies as regards transmission because we are taking a major step in transmitting election results in real time.

“To transmit results, in every part of the nation Nigeria, I’m not sure that the network covers it. I know that even in parts of Abuja, there is no network and we have from now till February when in substantial parts of the country there is no electricity.

“INEC must assure us 100 per cent that as at when due in transmitting results they are ready.”
The position of the APC chairman is however at variance with that of not a few Nigerians particularly the civil society groups who insist that the deployment of electronic means to transmit election results next year will reduce to the barest minimum election rigging and manipulation.

Ekit State House Of Assembly Saga: This Constitutional And Democratic Rascality Must Stop Henceforth

By
The Source
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Ekiti State Logo

**Full Statement By Seven SANs

Ekiti State is globally known as ile iyi, ile eye (land of honour, land of dignity). By all standards, and especially on account of the excellent virtues and priceless values that Ekiti people are primordially known for, it is simply beyond disputation that the sobriquet of ile iyi, ile eye is superbly earned by the State. Credence is, doubtless, lent to this inviolate position by the surfeit of elite, highly distinguished and most exemplary personalities that the State parades as indigenes. Against the backdrop of the salutary status of Ekiti people and State as people and land of honour and dignity respectively, it easily becomes a tragic irony and downright sacrilege whenever the State is in the news for less than honourable and dignifying reason(s). This has disturbingly and disquietingly been the situation in the past few days on the standpoint of the socio-political debacle and shenanigans going on in the State House of Assembly.

By way of a somewhat pedantic proem, it is common knowledge that the erstwhile Speaker of the State House of Assembly, the Rt. Hon. Funminiyi Afuye, transited to eternity on the 19th day of October, 2022. As a sequel to that unfortunate development, a new Speaker for the State legislature had to be elected. The election to produce a new speaker, incontrovertibly, took place on Tuesday, the 15th day of November, 2002. As widely reported in the media, two members of the House contested for the Speakership and at the end of the election, one of the duo, Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, was declared the winner of the election, having polled 15 votes as against the 10 votes garnered by the other contestant, Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba.

The winner of that electoral contest, Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan was promptly and duly sworn in as the new Speaker by the Clerk of the State House of Assembly. Thereafter, it was brought to the notice of the general public that a new Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly had emerged.

In a strange twist to the tale, however, news filtered out in the morning of the very next day, 16th November, 2022, that the Ekiti State House of Assembly Complex had been sealed off by the Police.

By the evening of that day, the new Speaker, Gboyega Aribisogan was heard on Channels Television saying that he was not privy to the decision to seal off the Complex by the Police and that when he reached out to the Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, he was informed that the step was taken to avert an intended attack by hoodlums on the State House of Assembly.

According to the Speaker, the Police Commissioner had assured him that the situation would be speedily brought under control and normalcy would be restored to enable the House resume its constitutional and legislative functions.

However, to the dismay and discomfort of all peace-loving indigenes of the State, the State House of Assembly Complex remained under lock and key for the rest of that week. What followed was a visibly flustered Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, the elected Speaker, appearing on Channels Television in the evening of Sunday, 20th November, 2022, to inform the whole world that there were plans to either impeach him as the Speaker or, failing that, assassinate him the following day. Hardly, had the next day broken than the media space became awash with the news that Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan had been impeached and, added to that, himself and six other members of the House suspended.

Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba, who had previously contested and lost the Speakership to Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, was announced as the newly elected Speaker. One may ask a few stunning questions, that is, who supervised the ‘election’ of Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba as the Speaker?

Was it the same Clerk of the House who presided over the election of Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan a few days earlier, publicly announced the results and declared him as the winner? Be it noted that under the Constitution and any parliamentary practice, the Clerk is the Chief Executive of any Parliament and presides over the conduct of election for the presiding officers. If it was the same Clerk, who mandated him to conduct another election that foisted Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba on the House, in a spectacularly unconstitutional and ridiculous manner? Who are the actual masquerades that prompted the Clerk to act in such an absurd manner? Are they from within or without the House? Was the Clerk aware of the agelong principle of separation of powers, as between the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary, as now enshrined in the Constitution?

Or, were/are the sponsors of this debacle aware of or have scant respect for this sacred principle which sustains democratic governance and governments in the free world? To say the very least, the situation in the Ekiti State House of Assembly should be of extremely grave concern to every decent and discerning mind.

Before going further, it is pertinent to underscore the prime importance of the State House of Assembly in the affairs of any State in the country. It is provided in Section 4(6) and (7) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) that the legislative powers of a State of the Federation shall be vested in the House of Assembly of the State and that the House of Assembly shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the State or any part thereof with respect to matters within the ambit of the legislative competence of the State legislature. Apparently enough, therefore, the imbroglio that is presently ravaging the Ekiti State House of Assembly has effectively denied the State of the benefit of the constitutional responsibilities of the Legislative House and the consequences cannot but be dire on the security and welfare of the people, as well as the general wellbeing of the State and its indigenes.

Meanwhile, under and by virtue of Section 92 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), once elected by the members of the House, as done in the case of Aribisogan, the Speaker shall continue to be in office during the lifespan of the particular House except, inter alia, removed from office by a resolution of the House of Assembly by the votes of not less than two-third majority of the House. From the short background above, it is plain as day that the elected Speaker was not allowed to function in office for the spate of one day before the sealing off of the Complex. Pray, therefore, at what point in time could he have committed any infraction of the constitution, any other law or the Rules of the House to warrant his supposed removal? Assuming without conceding that the Speaker had committed any infraction, was he not entitled to be confronted with the allegation in that respect and given reasonable opportunity to defend himself? If so, when was he accorded that?

Incontestably, election into such an exalted position as the Speaker of the House dictates that a holder of the office must be accorded fair hearing before being removed from the office. The alleged suspension and stoppage of the salaries of the Speaker and six other members of the House are no less misplaced, illegal, illegitimate, null and void. If care is not taken, and if all of us seal our lips, fold our arms and get relaxed on our seats and allow this rascality and impunity to go unchecked, in no distant future, the Governor of the State would be impeached and forced out of office in like manner.

Instructively, or with the benefit of hindsight, one would have expected the dramatis personae in this very constitutionally dastardly act to peep into history, at least momentarily, to learn therefrom, more particularly so that under a certain regime in the State, the then Speaker of the House was purportedly impeached, in a manner not as abrasive and audacious as the one under discussion, and the aggrieved Speaker, with some suspended members of the House, instituted an action against the constitutional aberration, and without much ado, the entire action was declared null and void by the High Court of Ekiti State, presided over by Hon. Justice Abiodun Adesodun, who decreed the reinstatement of the impeached Speaker and suspended members, as well as payment of all their accrued salaries and emoluments.

Taking cognisance of this precedent, the natural deduction to be made from the flagrant actions of the current political gladiators in Ekiti State House of Assembly and their instigator(s) is that they have no respect for  the rule of law. By their actions, they have demonstrated a penchant for political rascality, impunity, brazenness and recklessness of no mean measure.

Let it be mentioned and registered, posthaste, without any modicum of equivocation, that the purported impeachment of Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan as well as the announced suspension of seven members of the House is an exercise in utmost futility and, unquestionably, null and void. The situation is highly condemnable. This is particularly by reason of the fact that the members of the House of Assembly said to have been suspended represent their constituencies in the legislative affairs of the State.

When regard is had to the fact that the House is made up of 26 members (now 25, with the demise of Hon. Funminiyi Afuye), the purported suspension of seven members simply implies that more than a quarter of the membership of the House and the constituencies represented by them are now rendered impotent and unfunctional.

This is absolutely unwarranted, unjustified and condemnable. By way of argument, the sponsors of the charade and their cohorts in the House have foisted on the entire State, a coup d’etat, in the sense that the suspension of more than one quarter of the members of the House equally translates to the fact that members of their constituencies have also been suspended from the State. Going by the clear provision of Section 179 (2) (b) of the Constitution, the Governor, before being declared as the winner of an election to the office of the Chief Executive of the State was expected to have scored/polled not less than one quarter of the votes cast in not less than two-thirds of the Local Governments in the State.

Excising over one-quarter of the Local Governments represented by the suspended legislators from the State, as it were, means that the Governor may no longer be presiding over the Ekiti State on which election that brought him to office was conducted, and/or that the Ekiti State which the constitutionally delineated constituencies from where the suspended legislators were/are produced is not the State now being governed by the Governor.

Without being immodest, Ekiti State parades a good number of the leading lights and icons of the legal profession in Nigeria such as Aare Afe Babalola, OFR, CON, SAN, Founder & Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD and former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos; Chief Wole Olanipekun, CFR, OFR, SAN, former Attorney-General of the old Ondo State, past President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Ibadan; Dele Adesina, SAN, past General- Secretary of the NBA; Olu Daramola, SAN, Femi Falana, SAN, past President of the West African Bar Association (WABA); Dayo Akinlaja, SAN, past Attorney-General of Ekiti State and Gboyega Oyewole, SAN, past Attorney-General of Ekiti State, among several others, under whose auspices this statement is being issued.  In light of this position, it is nothing short of downright insensitivity, unmitigated disrespect, unalloyed affront and deep infra dig for the unconstitutionality and illegality that have emerged from the activities of the concerned political functionaries in the State and their masterminds to be contemplated, let alone so brazenly executed, knowing full well that the message unwittingly sent out therefrom is that there are no legally discerning indigenes of the State that could decipher the illegitimacy and illegality of the purported impeachment and suspension.

Significantly, it is exceedingly unfathomable and difficult to rationalise the basis for the roiling crisis in the Ekiti State House of Assembly on the strength of the fact that the entire members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly belong to one political party (APC). Noteworthy, in 2007 or thereabout, the same State House of Assembly was polarised between two political parties (in equal proportion); this notwithstanding, the House was at peace and not beset by the crisis of the sort being witnessed today. Without any speck of doubt, every person with a sense of justice, fairness and political decency must be scandalised by what is currently going on in our dear State.

As lawyers, we do not want to swallow hook, line and sinker the grapevine information and tales being peddled about for the reasons underscoring the crisis at hand, among the political gladiators in the State, and we do not want to elaborate on the narration given by Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan on Channels Television on 20th November,2022. Be that as it may, we plead with our humble and respected Governor to appreciate the fact that having been sworn in as the Governor of the State, he automatically translates to the Chief Executive Officer of the State, and by extension, the buck stops at his table. His silence in the face of the apparent threat to peace, order, good governance and harmony in the State is not the best, to put it mildly and respectfully. Truth be told, he is the one, rather than the political marauders that will be held responsible for any breakdown of law and order in the State.

Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan informed the entire world in one of his Channels Television appearances that apart from his planned kangaroo impeachment, himself and some marked members of the House were/are to be assassinated. Now, within a week, the State has purportedly produced two Speakers of the House of Assembly, and both of them were also purportedly sworn in by the Clerk of the House.

The Police had placed the premises of the House under lock and key, and we have not been informed under whose authority the Police so acted. Let it be put clearly that the Police has no jurisdiction or power to take any instruction or order in matters relating to the security of the State from any other person or power apart from the Governor of the State.

All said, we unreservedly, unambiguously and unequivocally condemn what is presently at play in the Ekiti State House of Assembly. It is legally and morally unjustified and must be deprecated by anyone with a sense of fairness and decency. In light of this position, we hereby call on all members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly to return to the path of peace, honour and dignity by allowing the elected Speaker, Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, to continue in office without let or hindrance. Anything short of this would amount to persevering in constitutional error and political rascality. May it be emphasized that the Assembly cannot transact any legitimate or legal business under the contrived speakership of Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba.

As often said in legal parlance, one cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand. From the biblical prism, if the foundation is destroyed, there is nothing the righteous can do.

It must be borne in mind that Ekiti State is not all about politics; it is about honour, decency, integrity, diligence, kindness, soberness, pursuit of all that is good and lofty, hard work, fear of God, man’s humanity to man, etc. Put differently, Ekiti State is greater than politics and politicians. The State is also sovereign in her own right, and not an appendage or chattel of any person or persons. On the premise of this position, no one or group of persons or politicians can be allowed to bring Ekiti State to dishonour and disrepute by whatever contrivance and for any ambition howsoever.

Pointedly and succinctly asserted, Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba cannot continue in office as Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, and we plead with her to honourably stop parading, presenting or holding herself out as the Speaker of the State, as her so-doing constitutes not just an illegality and unconstitutionality, but also a perseverance in such an unlawful enterprise. In like manner, we plead with the members of the House of Assembly to allow all Principal Officers of the House, including the Deputy Speaker, the Chief Whip, the Majority Leader etc., continue in office, without making any attempt to impeach or replace any of them. May we remind the legislators and their patrons that come May/June, 2023, the life span of the present session of the House of Assembly will constitutionally terminate.

Therefore, they should exercise some modicum of patience and wait for the next election, whereby they can sponsor their candidates to the House.

Even at that, the Legislators should appreciate the inviolate nature of the sovereignty of the Legislative House, and stop hobnobbing with outsiders or powers-that- be to usurp the powers and jurisdiction, rights and privileges, constitutionally and democratically conferred on them.

And to the Ekiti people generally, and more particularly the political godfathers, we want to admonish that we should do away with the overbearing, ruthless and negatively audacious attitude and disposition of deliberately embarking on any illegal and unconstitutional means or method of achieving any goal, target or objective, as done in this particular instance; taunting and daring the hapless victims of their illegalities to go to court, where it would take them ages to redress the wrong already heaped on them, and during which interlude, their objective would have been achieved and perfectly actualized. Ekiti State, being truly a land of honour and dignity, and equally the Fountain of Knowledge, deserves the highest standard of civility in the conduct of her affairs.

Dated this 23rd November, 2022

*Aare Afe Babalola, CON, OFR, SAN Founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti

*Chief Wole Olanipekun, CFR, OFR, SAN

*Dele Adesina, SAN

*Olu Daramola, SAN

*Femi Falana, SAN

*Dayo Akinlaja, SAN

*Gboyega Oyewole, SAN

OPINION: How Did Rivers State Get Here?

By
The Source
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Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo and Nyesom Wike

By Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo

This situation is shameful, disgraceful and annoying. It is brought upon us by a jester who dances naked all over the country, fighting injustice that exists only in his own imaginations.

He has with him some of his current and past colleagues who troop into the Treasure Base like ants to sugar. They call themselves the “Integrity Group”. But they are led by a tyrant whose knees are on the necks of his people – trapped, suffocated and oppressed.

How for God’s sake, did Rivers State get here? How did Rivers State fall this low? Governed by an unstable mind.

Something has to be done. If not, matters will get worse. Our state will slide further down. We are already a laughing stock in the comity of states. A subject of national ridicule and shame. A people totally misrepresented by their own governor.

Something has to give. Something has to happen and happen very fast. Rivers State must be retrieved, rescued and liberated from the satanic stranglehold of Gov. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike or else what we see now, what we witness now will be a child’s play.

Things will get worse because the person Wike is putting forward as the next Rivers State governor has no identity of his own, no voice of his own and no ideas of his own.

The man was only recently unveiled, like a woman in purdah to Rivers people. He is running and dragged along to consolidate Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (NEW) Rivers Vision. A third term for Governor Wike.

SIM, as Siminialaye Fubara is rightly called, can only transmit what his owner says on phone. Just like a SIM Card, he does not have his own massage.

He can only repeat pre-recorded messages: “the number you called cannot be reached”, “the number you called is switched off” “the number you called is on another call, please call again”. This is all a SIM does- transmitting messages from the owner. It is what Fela Anikulapo-Kuti called no break, no job, no sense. A joro, jara, joro. Zombie!

Siminialaye Fubara will not and dare not say one thing he will do differently. He cannot attend the forum of PDP governorship candidates for fear of Wike. He couldn’t even go for his flag at the PDP national rally.

By primitive force and power, Governor Wike is blackmailing Rivers people into silence. He is stifling the political space, suffocating political opponents. He is determined on foisting his SIM as the next governor, whether Rivers people like it or not.

Nyesom Wike wants to be the Bola Tinubu of Rivers State by installing all subsequent governors. But the question is: Does Siminialaye look like Fashola, Ambode or Sanwo-Olu?

There should be a method to madness.

But Gov. Wike has gone completely berserk. He is on the sprawl.

He is using the courts (which has been described as his supermarket) to disqualify candidates of other parties. He is bent on denying the Rivers electorate their inalienable rights to vote for their choice.

He is closing down businesses of political opponents and cancelling the Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) of political rivals. He does not care the impact on the state economy.

He is stopping political parties from using public spaces for campaigns, including school fields. He is threatening to close down the offices of political parties located in ‘residential areas’.

Observers say that Gov. Wike has rigged the 2023 election already through vote buying. They are referring to the governor’s recent recruitment of over 200,000 persons.

Analysts say that if the 200,000 new recruits get one additional person each, then Emperor Wike has 400,000 votes for his SIM and all his handpicked candidates even before elections. With this, he has rigged the election even before voting. He is doing this with public funds and with impunity.

The worry is that as Gov. Wike commits all these aberrations, government institutions and security agencies are merely watching.

INEC is watching as the governor usurps its role to regulate campaigns in the state. The DSS is watching as the governor abuses his office and instigates situations that could breach the peace. The CJN and the NJC are watching as Wike and the Rivers PDP get conflicting judgements from the courts.

But as the saying goes, let he that wants to settle a fight, first settle the quarrel.

Relevant institutions of state must call Gov. Wike to order now. President Muhammadu Buhari must call the Rivers State governor to order now. All well-meaning Nigerians, including the General Abdusalami Abubakar Peace Committee must come into Rivers State now. All other political parties must come together and discuss this matter now.

In any case, Gov. Wike should be told in very clear terms, that he that sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind. Let him be told that the confusions he is orchestrating in Rivers State and in Nigeria will be his albatross.

All his machinations will end in the same way his wishful and wasteful presidential ambition ended. The thunder he invoked right inside the church will surely take its final pound of flesh. God is a jealous God.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. We have no other state to call our own.

Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo is the Director, Media and Publicity, Accord Party Governorship Campaign Organization in Rivers State

Ekiti Lawyers To Rise Against Impunity At House Of Assembly – Afe Babalola

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

Legal luminary and Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD),  Afe Babalola, SAN, said gladiators in the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ekiti state House of Assembly violated  the principle of fair hearing in the entire process leading to impeachment of Gboyega Aribisogan, as Speaker.

He condemned in strong terms the removal of Aribisogan, within seven days of his election as successor of Funminiyi Afuye, who died recently.

Aribisogan from Ikole constituency one, was elected last week with 15 votes to defeat his challenger Bunmi Adelugba from Emure constituency, who scored 10 votes during the election conducted by the clerk of the house to replace the late speaker, Funminiyi Afuye.

However, in a twist of events, some lawmakers regrouped on Monday at the plenary and elected Adelugba as the new speaker following the reported impeachment of Aribisogan for allegedly sabotaging the passage of the 2022 appropriation bill, among other allegations.

Already, the impeached Speaker has gone to Court to challenge his removal, which he attributed to interest of former Governor Kayode Fayemi.

Speaking during the third Afe Babalola distinguished personality lecture on Wednesday in Ado-Ekiti, the elder statesman expressed regret over the violations of the principle of fair hearing in the entire process by the political gladiators in the All Progressives Congress.

He explained that Aribisogan, who was elected by the majority of lawmakers last week, ought to have been given enough time to respond to allegations against him before his removal, adding that the impeachment would be challenged in court in the interest of peace in the state and rule of law.

While calling on the state council of traditional rulers and other stakeholders in the state to intervene towards finding a lasting solution to the impasse, he stated that leading lawyers from Ekiti state in the country would in a matter of days release a joint statement on the issue.

“Last week, 15 lawmakers elected Gboyega Aribisogan as a speaker and I was sitting in my house here that within few days, some lawmakers met again to remove the man with lawful votes of 15.

“Is that peaceful and lawful? Before you can have peace anywhere, there must be justice and it is sad that in this country, we don’t obey the laws.

“How can you have this kind of situation when the laws say that you must let the person you are accusing know what he or she was being accused of and be given sufficient time to respond to the alleged infractions? So, let me say that there was no justice for Aribisogan.

“My learning teaches me that there must be fair hearing and full compliance with the rule of law. You cannot impeach someone that has done something wrong without bringing it to his attention; in this case, nothing was done and don’t forget he was removed overnight.

“It is a clear case of breach of the law and fundamental fair hearing. I cannot but believe this was a case of total neglect of the law and people taking the law into their hands

“I have spoken with the new governor (Biodun Oyebanji) and the man elected properly as the speaker (Aribisogan) to find a solution to it and if there is no way out peacefully, then of course there will be an action file in the court of law and I can assure you that in the next few hours, there will be a seriously-worded press statement by the leading lawyers from Ekiti on the crisis in the state Assembly.

“I will advise, suggest and plead with the traditional rulers in the state to intervene immediately to preserve law and order in Ekiti, otherwise the peace we are hoping for might elude us in the state.”

Presidency: Northern Christian Caucus Has Decided To Support Atiku – Former SGF, Babachir Lawal

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Adesina Soyooye
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By Adesina Soyooye

The arrow head of the Northern Christian Caucus, Babachir Lawal, has disclosed that the Caucus is backing the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party,  Atiku Abubakar.

Babachir,  Christian, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, APC chieftain, and a former close ally of Bola Tinubu, fell out with him and the Party over the Party’s same faith ticket.

He said he had advised Tinubu against a Muslim-Muslim ticket, but was shocked that he ignored the advice.

Along with former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara,  also an APC chieftain, he formed the Northern Christian Caucus which has been campaigning against the Presidential victory of Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima.

The Caucus said it would never vote a Muslim- Muslim ticket. Lawal listed many occasions where Northern Christians had been humiliated and treated as nobodies. He described Tinubu’s choice of Shettima as a collective insult on all Northern Christians, and a deliberate act to divide the North. He dismissed the ticket as satanic.

On Wednesday, November 23, Lawal disclosed that the Northern Christian Caucus has decided to support the candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of Nigeria.

He said: “PDP discussed with us, and agreed to what we want if we support them,  and we agreed to support them.”

He was, however, quick to add that he would not leave the APC unless President Muhammadu Buhari leaves the Party.

Gov Akeredolu Says Nigerians Yet To Fully Recover From Effects Of COVID-19 Pandemic

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The Source
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Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State
Rotimi Akeredolu

By Ayodele Oni

Government and individuals in the country are still counting their loses occassioned by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, which ravaged the world causing several deaths.

On his part, Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, said the advent of the pandemic coupled with insurgency in Nigeria  worsened the problems of insecurity and unemployment.

The Governor spoke on Wednesday  in Akure, while receiving participants of the Senior Course 45 programme of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, who are on Study Tour of Ondo State.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Richard Olatunde stated that the 46-man team was led by the Faculty Leader, Commodore Promise Dappa.

Appreciating them for finding Ondo State suitable again for the study tour, Governor Akeredolu noted that the importance of the topic of the Study Tour, “Youth Unemployment and National Security”, cannot be over emphasized.

He explained that the challenges of insecurity and unemployment are hydra-headed not only in the country but in the world at large.

The Governor said the prevailing unemployment in the country has now made some youth to seek greener pastures abroad.

He added that there is correlation between unemployment and insecurity, stressing that all hands must be on deck to address the problems.

Akeredolu reiterated the need for state police, saying the stand of his administration is that a police command in Abuja can not serve the nation of 300 million people.

“In spite of our meagre resources, our administration has recorded remarkable successes in securing the lives and property of people of the State as well as in the area of employment generation.

“Optimal and profitable engagement of the youth cannot be carried out without the enabling environment of which security of life and property occupies a central place.

“There is no gainsaying the fact that security of life and property is the most basic duty of government, without which peaceful coexistence will be hampered.

“It is in the light of the foregoing that our administration instituted a time-tested developmental agenda, with the acronym: REDEEMED.

“The agenda provides the framework for our interventions in the areas of security, education, health and provision of infrastructural facilities, employment creation and so on.

“I am glad to inform you that we have been providing consistent financial and logistic supports to all security agencies in the State, including the Army, Navy, Police, Airforce, Nigeria Civil Defence and Security Corps etc.

“As the saying goes, “the taste of the pudding is in the eating”, I should like you to experience firsthand the remarkable achievements of our administration in the highlighted sector, as you travel around the State.

“The Study Tour has, therefore, been carefully designed to afford participants opportunities to directly see some of the achievements, particularly with regard to security and employment generation.

“Resource persons have also been carefully selected to do justice to the lectures you will have at our Public Service Training Institute, Ilara-Mokin.

“The State owned Security Agency, the Amotekun Corps, has also been doing wonderfully well.

“The success of Amotekun Corps in Ondo State in particular and South West of Nigeria in general underscores the fact that the security architecture of the country must be decentralized for effective security of lives and properties in Nigeria.

“Apart from the unfortunate carnage that took place in St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, on Sunday, 5th June, 2022 and a few isolated security breaches, there is relative peace in the State.

“The prevailing peace in the State, which is as a result of collaborative efforts of all the security agencies including the State own Amotekun Corps, has led to inflow of people and investors into the State.

“Our administration has also made significant progress in employment generation. Many professionals have been recruited into the State Public Service including health sector, teaching service, agric sector etc.”

Earlier, the Faculty Team Leader, Commodore Promise Dappa, explained that the purpose and objective of the study tour is for the participants to visit selected states every year to study the prevalent socio-cultural, socio-economic and security challenges in those states.

He added that it is to also see the efforts and various actions taken by the various state governments.

He added that it is to also see the efforts and various actions taken by the various state governments towards addressing those prevalent challenges.

“They are also required to establish a nexus between those challenges, the actions taken by those governors and the security of the states and national security as a whole.

“That is why this year, the theme of the tour is “Youth Unemployment and National Security of Nigeria.”

Nigeria Needs a Better Driver – Obi; Adebanjo, 94, Attends Rally,  Says It’s For Justice And Equity

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The Source
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Ayo Adebanjo at Peter Obi Rally in Ibadan

The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi has related Nigeria to a vehicle with knocked engine caused by the recklessness and  quackery of its past drivers, saying that a new Nigeria is possible if entrusted into the hands of trained, confident and fully qualified  drivers, Baba Datti Ahmed and himself. Obi said this during the campaign rally at the  Lekan  Salami stadium Ibadan.

Obi who was introduced by the Director General of the Campign, Dr. Doyin Okupe started his speech by paying glowing tributes to late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Ladoke Akintola. He also paid tributes to the current leaders of the Yorubas, especially Pa Ayo Adebanjo  who was there physically and the Afenifere.

Obi said that by standing on the side of  equity and justice, that Afenefere had stood out as one of the custodians of the conscience of the nation.  He said that  justice, equity and fairness remained the only durable foundation for the future of a prosperous Nigeria.

Dwelling at length on the trajectory of his government, Obi said that their first priority would be to secure and unite Nigeria and Nigerians, move the country from consumption to production. He also talked about bringing  back the greatness of Nigerian cities by building on their strength, thus restoring Lagos as the financial capital of Africa; Ibadan as a strong industrial and educational base; the  vast north as the food basket of the country.

Obi decried the use of tribe, religion and ethnicity as an instrument of division and vowed  that Datti and himself would ignore those distractions and use their experiences as wealth creators to expand the national cake for everybody to equitably enjoy.

Earlier in his speech Pa Ayo Adebanjo whose over 90 years made him an unlikely participant at a political rally,  said he was determined to attend in his desire to  see the birth of equitable, strong and  fair Nigeria, which Obi/Datti’s candidature represented.

While Aisha Yesuf who was present described what is happening as the promise of a great future, said it was about time all those that were manifestly part of the old order cleared  from the road to renewal, which Obi’s quest represented.

In her vote of thanks, the forner First Lady of Anambra  State, Mrs Margaret Peter-Obi urged Nigerians to show  sustained commitment to the movement for renewal by collecting their PVCs.

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