Anambra State Governor, Professor Charles Soludo, has warned mischief makers not to cause trouble between him and Peter Obi.
Obi, a former two-time Governor of Anambra State is the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
Governor Soludo was reacting to a news item carried on Sunday, June 26, by a couple of Social Media platforms to the effect that he was mocking Obi.
Soludo was quoted as saying that he was in sympathy with those who defected from the ruling Party in the State, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, to the LP, because LP has no structure, not even one Councillor, and will never win any election even in Anambra State as the State is APGA-compliant. He allegedly dismissed Obi as wasting time.
But Soludo has denied making any such statement and dismissed it as mischief. He also warned mischief makers to keep off his relationship with Obi, and not cause any problems between them.
In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Christian Aburime, Soludo said that the Repoter who first wrote the story was not there when he spoke extempore during an interactive session to mark his 100 days in office.
He said the report was an attempt by some misguided elements to cause disaffection between him and Obi.
Following is the press statement release by Aburime.
RE: SOLUDO MOCKS PETER OBI, SAYS LP WILL LABOUR IN VAIN
“The above statement allegedly credited to Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR is totally false and unfounded
“Our checks reveal the statement was a total misrepresentation by an overzealous reporter who was not among the journalists present when Governor Soludo spoke extempore during his interaction with some audience after his 100 days in office media broadcast
“The above statement could best be described as an attempt by some misguided elements to cause disaffection between the Labour Party Presidential candidate, His Excellency, Peter Obi and his party leadership
“We, therefore, wish to caution those wishing to cause mischief by publishing false and misleading stories to desist from doing so
“The public should please disregard the entire statement as it never emanated from Governor Soludo”
A few days ago, Obi’s very loyal aide, Valentine Obienyem, confirmed Obi has a good relationship with Governor Soludo. He revealed that Obi is strongly in support of Soludo as all he wanted is Soludo’s success. Anybody claiming to be in Obi’s camp, Obienyem said, and attacks Soludo “is on his own.”
Obi had attended Soludo’s inauguration as Governor. On the day Obi briefed Traditional Rulers Council, Anambra of his Presidential ambition, Soludo allowed him the use of the Government House for the purpose.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Presidential flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 elections jetted out to Paris France, Monday Morning.
Sources close to his campaign organisation indicate that he went to a meeting in furtherance of his 2023 Presidential ambition. That has, however, not stopped the rumours that he travelled for a medical check-up.
His state of his health has been a subject of speculations.
According to his media aides, he is expected to hold series of meetings.
Tinubu had met over the weekend with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa.
Tinubu has lately been in the news in connection with his qualification to contest the 2023 Presidential elections.
The forms he filled and submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, were without providing his primary and secondary school documents, among others.
His confirmation is subject to the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari who is expected to forward his name for screening to the Senate.
Many insist that Tanko did the Honourable thing by resigning, especially, after the scandalous spat, a few days ago with 14 Justices of the Supreme Court who indirectly passed a vote of no confidence in him.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Mohammed, has resigned from office.
According to reports, Tanko resigned Monday morning, allegedly, on health grounds.
There have been strong speculations over his health for over one year. He neither confirmed nor denied his health status.
His resignation took many by surprise considering that last week, he was embroiled in a scandalous spat with 14 Justices of the Supreme Court. The Justices had written a letter to him which leaked to the Public.
In the letter, they stopped short of calling him corrupt.
They qurried the management of the finances of the Court funds under him. They said everything in the Apex Court had deteriorated under him.
The letter was an indirect vote of no confidence in him. Even though he denied any wrong doing in his response which was, also, leaked to the public, not a few people insist his resignation is linked to the scandalous exchanges. The spat opened the underbelly of the Supreme Court and exposed it to public ridicule.
Born on December 31, 1953, Ibrahim Muhammad Tanko, CFR, was appointed the CJN by President Muhammadu Buhari on March 22, 2019. He succeeded CJN Walter Onoghen who was forced to resign under controversial circumstances by the Buhari Government.
Tanko is a native of Bauchi State, and had a Doctorate degree in Shariah Law.
The retirement age of Supreme Court Judges in Nigeria is 70 years.
The Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN and his Law firm, are at the centre of an alleged misconduct bordering on snatching of a client.
The renowned Lawyer has however, denied that the letter in contention, written to one Mr. Francesco Caio by a Partner in his law firm, has his consent.
The letter, written by Adekunbi Ogunde reads :
“Dear Mr. Caio,
I trust that you had a good weekend, and you are doing well, despite these somewhat challenging times at SAIPEM.
“My name is Adekunbi Ogunde, and I am a Partner leading the oil & gas practice area in Wole Olanipekun & Co.
“I am writing specifically in relation to the ongoing USD130 million case at the Rivers State High Court brought by the Rivers State Government against Saipem SPA, Saipem Nigeria, and others.
“I believe that, you need a more influential lawyer/law firm to prevent a potential huge pay out to the Rivers State Government and without a doubt, I believe that my law firm, Wole Olanipekun & Co., can help in this regard.
“A quick research about Wole Olanipekun & Co., will show that the law firm is the leading litigation firm that has helped other multinationals in sensitive, highly political matters.
“It will also reveal that the presence of our lead partner, Chief Olanipekun SAN, OFR, in the matter will significantly switch things in favour of SAIPEM.
“Chief Olanipekun SAN, OFR is currently the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, which is the highest ruling body in the Nigerian legal profession, made up of Supreme Court Judges, Presiding Justices of the Court of Appeal and Chief Judges of all State High Courts, including the Rivers State High Court.
“In order words, Chief Olanipekun SAN, OFR, is the head of the entire legal profession in Nigeria.
“Wole Olanipekun & Co. has also helped other multinationals, such as in the famous cases of MTN tax dispute, Shell Petroleum, Equinor (former Statoil) dispute etc. avoid huge pay outs in more complex, sensitive and highly-political matters.
“We are aware that another law firm is currently in the matter but you will agree that highly-sensitive and political matters require more influence.
“We are happy to work with the current lawyers to achieve the desired results.
“I hope that you consider this so as to help SAIPEM avoid a huge pay out in claims and I am happy to set up a meeting to discuss further. Best regards.”
The case is currently being handled on behalf of the company by the law firm of Ajumogobia & Okeke.
In his disclaimer, Chief Olanipekun said there was no time such matter was discussed with him or any other partner on the law firm and that any such letter emanating from his law firm is usually signed by at least two partners.
Chief Olanipekun’ s letter reads:
“Our attention has just been drawn to a letter sent by mail to Mr. Caio of SAIPEM Contracting Nigeria Limited by Adekunbi Ogunde, purportedly acting on behalf of our law firm.
“The letter was brought to our attention by H. Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, OFR, a respected colleague of ours, and a close ally of our Principal, Chief Wole Olanipekun, OFR, SAN. We appreciate the candor of the learned Senior Advocate and his thoughtfulness in bringing the letter to our attention promptly.
“First, let it be known without any equivocation that the said letter was written without the instruction, authority, mandate, approval or consent of Wole Olanipekun & Co.; it was also not brought to our attention by the writer.
“Second, it has never been the practice of our law firm to solicit for cases or clientele, and we shall never indulge ourselves in this disturbing practice and trend.
Third, H. Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, OFR is one of the leading lights in our profession, sound in character and knowledge.
“He is intellectually adept, and we are proud to say that our Principal has very high regards for him. In other words, no client or company can have a better counsel to represent it than this icon of the Bar.
“Equally, we have always had, and we still have our high respect for the law firm of Ajumogobia & Okeke. Fourth, the practice in our law firm is that before any letter goes out, it must be cleared in-house, and jointly attested to or signed by two counsel.
“In effect, the writer of the letter under reference was on her own, and we do wholly dissociate ourselves from the letter and its contents; while internal measures would immediately be taken to address and redress this very unfortunate situation.
“The writer never discussed her intention to write the letter or showed it to any person or counsel in the office, either before or after sending it to Mr. Caio.
Our Principal, without being immodest, has never been known to indulge himself in the type of practice portrayed in the letter under reference.
“He is a very sober and humble person, and we believe learned Silk, H. Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, OFR can attest to this. He stands for the best in the profession, in terms of ethics, honour, integrity, discipline, character and carriage. Ditto for our office, which has been in existence since 1980.
“As at now, our Principal is in the forefront of initiating reforms in the legal profession, in order to restore its age-long discipline, ethics and honour.
“Thus, on receipt of the letter under reference, he felt so much disgusted, disappointed and distressed.
“To put it mildly, the entire scenario is highly embarrassing to the whole office. Our Principal was in utter shock when his attention was brought to H. Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, OFR’s letter by his Secretary. The entire office was also very alarmed and greatly perturbed.
“In parenthesis, we dissociate ourselves from the letter under reference, as the writer was on her own. As stated earlier, we will address this shortly. Put in other words, the letter is hereby retracted unequivocally; in spite of the fact that it was unauthorized and done without our permission, authority or consent.
“We unreservedly apologize to the highly respected H. Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, OFR, and the entire law firm of Ajumogobia & Okeke for the embarrassment which the letter might have caused them; but let it be known that the letter has also caused us a lot of embarrassment as well.”
The letter was signed on behalf of Wole Olanipekun & Co. by James Adesulu,
Associate Counsel and Quam Owolabi Bisiriyu, Associate Counsel.
*Imo to host over 10,000 Military Officers and Men between June 30 and July 6, 2022.
*President Buhari to be in Imo between July 12 to July 13, 2022.
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has granted a10-day window to bandits operating and hibernating in the forests in Imo State to leave the place immediately and surrender themselves and their arms to their Traditional Rulers for unconditional pardon. However, those who fail to take this privilege, would face bombardment.
The 10-day amnesty grace by the Governor is with immediate effect and will be visited with severe consequences if not taken seriously by the bandits.
Governor Uzodimma who spoke at the Government House Chapel Owerri while addressing the congregation after Sunday Service said that Government has decided to rid the forests in Imo State of bandits and accordingly, has procured the necessary equipment for the purpose, hence the need for those of them who want to be reintegrated into the society to take advantage of the amnesty and quit now and hand over their arms.
The Governor also said that Imo State will be hosting the annual Army Day Celebration from June 30 to July 6, 2022 and that no fewer than 10,000 military personnel drawn from the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Police, among others would be in attendance.
They would be led by the Army Chief, the Naval Chief, the Air Force Chief, the Police Chief, among others, according to the Governor.
President Muhammadu Buhari who is expected to declare open the Army Day celebration has also fixed July 12 – 13 as the period he would commission the Owerri-Orlu and Owerri-Okigwe roads as well as perform the flag-off of the construction of Owerri – Mbaise – Umuahia (from Fire Service) and the Orlu-Akokwa roads and the foundation laying ceremony of the Imo International Conference Centre in Owerri.
Governor Uzodimma said the new roads will still be handled by Cranburg.
While congratulating Imo people for the relative peace that has returned to the State, the Governor explained that effective Monday, June 27, “Imo State will take delivery of military equipment that will be used to clear the remnants of bandits hiding in various bushes in the State.”
He however gave 10 days to bandits still operating under any cover in the forests to come out of their caves, “where necessary, report themselves to their Traditional rulers or their Council Chairmen so that Government will grant them Amnesty.”
He emphasised that the period of grace will not be extended as those who fail to take advantage of it will have themselves to blame.
The Governor said: “The State is more determined now than before to clear all bandits and to achieve this, the expected equipment and additional recruitment of more Ebube-Agu personnel working in collaboration with the Security Agencies in the State will be used to clear all the waterways and ride the state of bandits including crude-oil theft. All the waterways are under surveillance with the delivery of new Naval Equipment to the Naval Base in Oguta.”
Governor Uzodimma further directed the Interim Management Committee Chairmen of the 27 Local Government Areas in the State and the newly inaugurated 52 Coordinators of the Development Centres to resume fully in their headquarters and cooperate with their members and the Town Union President Generals to drive the Government message on security home.
Furthermore, he reiterated his assurance that the LGA elections will be conducted this year, adding that the ISIEC had been asked to resume the process towards the election.
Governor Uzodimma promised that “the election will be transparent, free and fair and only popular candidates will contest and win.”
The Governor told those aspiring to contest to go and sell themselves to their people instead of coming to loiter around the Government House Owerri seeking for endorsement they will not get.
He said his administration will like to leave behind a strong Local Government System that will stand the test of time.
The Governor thanked the congregation and the people of Imo State for their continued support for his administration, noting that “those who thought that they will destabilise the State have failed and will continue to fail.”
At least, two States, Zamfara and Anambra States had in the past offered such Amnesty to Bandits, it never worked.
Zamfara State Governor, Mohammed Matawalle, has just given permission to the citizens of the State to own guns to defend themselves against attacks by bandits and terrorists.
The Atiku Support Organisation has taken on former President Olusegun Obasanjo, over his unprovoked attack on his former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.
Atiku is the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP against 2023.
The two, while in office, especially, in their second term, had a less than smooth relationship. Obasanjo had sworn never to forgive Atiku over whatever went wrong. He tagged his former VP “corrupt”, even in the book that he wrote after office.
But in the run-up to the 2019 Presidential election where Atiku was, also, PDP’s Presidential candidate, Obasanjo had received Atiku in a high profile ceremony, made up with him, and supported him during that election which Atiku eventually lost to the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
It, therefore, came as a surprise to many when Obasanjo, at a workshop with Secondary school students, said that his choice of Atiku in 1999, as his running mate, was a mistake.
He told the students, in a story that broke on Saturday, June 25, 2022, that he made two mistakes. One, he told them. was the choice of his running mate. The second, he revealed, was not listening to the American Ambassador in Nigeria, then, who tipped him off on late Head of State, General Ssni Abacha’s decision to arrest him, warned him not to come back home, but travel to America where the US Government would offere him an asylum.
Even though Obasanjo did not mention Atiku by name, it was obvious who he was referring to. It is also obvious that it was meant to cause Atiku maximum damage in his quest to be the President of Nigeria in 2023.
Piqued by the unprovoked attack, the Atiku Support Organisation faulted Obasanjo and told him that his choice of Atiku as running mate, was a blessing to Nigeria.
In a statement on Sunday, June 26, its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. EI Mo Victor Moses, asked Obasanjo “to see his decision to work with Atiku Abubakar as his number two man as his best decision ever made in the overall interest of Nigeria, and NOT a mistake.”
Listing Atiku’s achievements as the VP, the group noted that “Without equivocation, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, the Waziri Adamawa was, without a modicum of doubt, the best Vice President Nigeria has ever had since 1960 Independence”
They gave an inkling into what the problem was and, perhaps, still is between Obasanjo and Atiku. Said the statement:
“Nigerians are quite aware of a failed 3rd term bid of His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, which created ripples that refused to heal almost 24 years after, but His Excellency Atiku Abubakar’s decision to stand against the 3rd term bid of Obasanjo was not personal but to protect our young democracy.”
Following is the full response to Obasanjo by the Atiku group.
The choice of Atiku Abubakar as Vice President in 1999 was a blessing to Nigeria – Atiku Support Organisation replies Chief Obasanjo
“We watched with dismay a video purportedly showing the former president of Nigeria, His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo stating that one of his mistakes in life was his choice of number two man during the 1999 presidential elections.
“We wish to state without mincing words that former president Olusegun Obasanjo was the best president we’ve ever had as a nation since 1999.
“Similarly and without equivocation, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, the Waziri Adamawa was, without a modicum of doubt, the best vice president Nigeria has ever had since 1960 independence.
“His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo may recall that Nigeria under Atiku Abubakar as the head of the economic council experienced its best economic growth in history.
“As of 1998, Nigeria’s economy was in the red zone growing at -2.5%. With His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar on the economic council’s driving seat, the economy experienced successive growth for 8 years in a row and peaked at 15.33% growth in 2002. The best in Nigeria since 1969. GDP per capita annual growth rose from $498 to an impressive peak level of $1,883 in 2007. Inflation was reduced from 10.0% in 1998 to 5.39% in 2007. Nigeria’s trade balance significantly increased from negative $-1.63bn to an impressive $38.88bn in 2006. Foreign direct investment increased from $0.30bn in 1998 to an impressive $6.04bn in 2007.
“In 1998, the unemployment rate stood at 3.83%. By 2007, the rate fell to 3.62%. The banking industry was almost a near-dead industry with many banks dying in freestyle mode trapping the life savings of many Nigerians. But His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, GCON with the support of his team members ensured a great banking reform leading to bank capitalization. Today, most banks are stable and the industry is worth over ₦102.6 trillion Naira as of 2020 as against ₦757 billion in 1998. Nigeria’s neck-breaking external debt as of 1998 stood at over $30bn. As the head of the economic team, Atiku Abubakar contributed immensely to ensuring debt forgiveness for Nigeria and the repayment of the balance. He contributed in no small measure to assembling the best economic management team ever assembled in the history of Nigeria.
“The privatization exercise that saw to the incredible revolution in the telecommunication sector was astonishing. Today, the telecom sector has created millions of direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians and it’s adding over ₦11 trillion to the economy every year.
“Generally, the Nigerian economy grew by 192% between 1999 to 2020. Under the economic council team headed by His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, the economy grew by 81% as against 25.9% under late president Umar Musa Yar’adua, 26.4% under ex-president Goodluck Jonathan and 1.4% under president Muhammadu Buhari.
“Therefore, we ask. How could someone with such an intimidating pedigree and best profile in economic management and development of a nation be a mistaken choice of a vice president?
“Nigerians are quite aware of a failed 3rd term bid of His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, which created ripples that refused to heal almost 24 years after, but His Excellency Atiku Abubakar’s decision to stand against the 3rd term bid of Chief Obasanjo was not personal but to protect our young democracy.
“We call on His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to see his decision to work with Atiku Abubakar as his number two man as the best decision ever made in the overall interest of Nigeria and NOT a mistake.
“His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar is vindicated because archival facts and figures are out there to prove that he was indeed the best vice president we have ever had since independence in 1960.”
Obasanjo, a two-term President under the PDP, quit the Party in the run-up to the 2015 election. He backed then General Muhammadu Buhari, against the PDP incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan. Obasanjo has since fallen out with Buhari and his administration. It is not clear who he is supporting against 2023.
“In a Nigeria where the curriculum vitae of some Presidential aspirants is as opaque as the sky, birth details shawled in a translucent towel, real name a subject of needless controversy, birth and parenthood a curious pouch fallen from space on an island nobody wants to touch, schooling history smelling like a miasma and wrapped up in a shroud, Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, was born Peter Gregory Obi on July 19, 1961, in Onitsha, Anambra State and attended Christ the King College, Onitsha, and later, the University of Nigeria, graduating with a B.A. (Hons) in Philosophy in 1984. Thereafter, he ventured into business, becoming the chairman of Fidelity Bank, among other concerns.”
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, a 42-year-old woman named Rosa Parks did what philosophers call against method. Paul Feyeraband, an Austrian philosopher, had in 1976 pioneered that thesis. In a racial American society of the time where blacks were inferior and were expected to leave their bus seats for whites, Parks refused to give up hers for a white male passenger. Her refusal sparked a boycott that changed the paradigm of racial relationships in America. It even shot the less-known Martin Luther King Jr. to world recognition. At the risk of sanctions for her impudence, Parks had reportedly told the Montgomery bus driver: “My feet are tired”.
In a Nigeria where the curriculum vitae of some presidential aspirants is as opaque as the sky, birth details shawled in a translucent towel, real name a subject of needless controversy, birth and parenthood a curious pouch fallen from space on an island nobody wants to touch, schooling history smelling like a miasma and wrapped up in a shroud, Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, was born Peter Gregory Obi on July 19, 1961, in Onitsha, Anambra State and attended Christ the King College, Onitsha, and later, the University of Nigeria, graduating with a B.A. (Hons) in Philosophy in 1984. Thereafter, he ventured into business, becoming the chairman of Fidelity Bank, among other concerns.
The most outstanding and worthy narrative about Obi is the records he left in public office. Obi is a refreshing breeze in the governance space, leaving an unbeatable governmental footpath of prudence, probity and empathetic governance towards the people he administered as governor from 2006 to 2014. He was not loved by Anambra political vermin who could not stand his accountable governance and obsession with prioritizing the welfare of the citizens of the state.
Obi disdains waste, whether at the personal or governmental level. Wealthy by any standard but, unlike the typical Nigerian politician who is enveloped in vanity, Obi lives a frugal life that shows that wealth is nothing except targeted at developing humanity. He abhors pretence and vain flaunting of wealth. When agents of the maggots-wriggling political order that has limited Nigeria’s growth for decades criticize Obi for allegedly flaunting inaccurate statistics, ask them when last did any of the senescent candidates they willingly offer themselves as their lackeys, ever attempted to bandy any figure, extempore?
Of all the characters who strut around like turtle doves, pregnant with illicit ambitions to enter the office of the Nigerian president, none demonstrates or possesses Obi’s piety, grasp and depth. When you scrutinize those aspiring to preside over the destiny of over 200 million Nigerians, they have no destiny of worth aside from their unaccountable wealth. On the moral scores above, it will be a crying shame that Nigeria ever allowed them to attempt to square up with Obi for an office that, if we get it right, can forever change our dialogue with poverty and underdevelopment.
In records of fidelity to the public space where they have all been at one point or the other, none of the duo of APC and PDP presidential candidates has Obi’s baffling records of abidance with the oath of governmental purity, virtue, goodness, decency, morality, decorum, modesty and wholesomeness. This is what public officers swear to uphold. Isn’t it a huge disappointment that the narrative of Obi’s investment of Anambra money is what engages these jobless political parasites and not the moral pedigree of those who totally filched investments in their care in office and who, God forbid, are poised to rule and ruin them?
When some Nigerians with ulterior motives now seek to justify the illusion of the Hobson’s choice before them by claiming that morality should play second fiddle in who becomes the Nigerian president in 2023, they must be saying this in their acute naivety of the cusp of Golgotha that immorality has taken Nigeria. For a country which ranked at an all-time low position of 154th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, we must not allow those who want to rule us in 2023 to wriggle out of making corruption an issue at the ballot.
Festus Adedayo
Bloomberg, a Media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, in a piece published on June 22, 2022, said the candidates dare not campaign that they want to eradicate corruption. Except for Obi. Due to the huge hole that corruption has bored into the fabrics of the Nigerian public and private life, the graft pedigree of the Nigerian public service has become a top campaign issue in Nigeria’s last two presidential elections. Remember the “if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us” mantra?
Bloomberg then wonders how the two main candidates who are seen as poster boys of corruption in public service and with a long “history of graft allegations surrounding” them, will raise corruption as a goblin they intend to battle if elected the Nigerian president.
According to this June 22 Bloomberg publication, just three decades ago, one of the presidential candidates “fought a lawsuit in which the US government accused him of laundering the proceeds of heroin trafficking and eventually reached a settlement”. Bloomberg also claimed that: “In July 1993, when (the candidate) briefly served as a Nigerian senator, the US government filed a forfeiture lawsuit in Chicago against bank accounts in his name, claiming there was ‘probable cause’ to believe they held the proceeds of heroin dealing. The case followed a probe by the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies into a trafficking network involving Nigerian suppliers”.
The PDP candidate, said Bloomberg, “brought tens of millions of dollars of ‘suspect funds’ into the US when he was Nigeria’s vice president in the 2000s, according to a US senate report, and was implicated in a bribery case that resulted in the imprisonment of an American congressman.
Neither episode resulted in charges against the man who is now the PDP presidential candidate”. The report also said that a report published in 2010 by the US senate’s permanent subcommittee on investigations claimed that Jennifer, one of (his) wives, was complicit in helping her husband, who was then the VP, bring in over $40 million of ‘suspect funds’ into the US, ‘including at least $1.7 million in bribes paid by Siemens AG”. How can we be stuck with such rotten cabbages for breakfast? As we speak, none of the two candidates has put up a rebuttal of Bloomberg’s claims.
In all that has been written against Obi, none has been able to link him with dubiety in public service. A few put up are so laughable and effete efforts at placing him side by side with his disreputable allies in the race. Indeed, Nigeria needs a capable leadership that can tackle insecurity, restore public confidence in leadership, bring Nigeria from its consumerist to production economy, lift up the people’s sagging morale and all that, but the mere realisation that an ‘Ali Baba and the 40 thieves’ president inhabits Aso Rock will do incalculable harm to the image of Nigeria, thereby pushing the issue of resolution of the Nigerian graft conundrum far down the abyss. That is why corruption should be more urgent in resolution than, I dare say, restoring Nigeria’s economy to its shape.
Western countries which have profiled the APC and PDP candidates as robbers of the public till will most likely hold back in entrusting international funds in their care.
Attempts by vultures of the social media to demonize Peter Obi can be likened to a pithy saying in Yoruba which is expressed as a short anecdote of a sick man who apparently wishes those who tender him on the sick bed to be sick like him. When asked what he would have for dinner, the sick man demanded a green snake-made pepper soup and amala. Who does not know that killing a green snake is fraught with danger? This is expressed as; “da bi mo se da baba olokunrun, to ni omi tooro abirusoro lo wu ohun je oka”. The gambit is that Obi must be brought to their inveterate level by all means. He must also have his own Alpha Beta where he collects 10% from the Anambra state government. His total existence must symptomize fakery.
Some of these vultures even go to the absurd level of abusing him for leaving money behind in Anambra coffers, saying he was not elected to save money, unlike their own god who was apparently elected to plunge his state into eternal debts.
To be fair to those fascinated by, in the words of Oscar Wilde, the gutters and everything that is in it, an Obi presidency has the potential of signalling a nunc dimittis to public corruption in Nigeria. Going the other route with the progenies of corruption can only lead to infamy.
In Obi is a leader whose life will be a mirror that the led will pattern their lives towards and there will be sanity in public service. Recruits of #OperationPullPeterDown don’t just get it or are too naïve to connect with it. While no one is saying Peter Obi is a saint, the two candidates of APC and PDP are moral midgets beside an integrity colossus like Peter.
Rebuilding Nigeria is an imperative but not a rebuilding on quicksand which handing Nigeria into the hands of an amoral leadership epitomizes.
On the superficial, voting for Obi looks like a waste of franchise. How can someone profess a disruptive leadership that will wipe clean wastage, corruption and elite gang-up hope to win a Nigerian presidency that is teleguided by people who Dele Momodu classically referred to as “owners of Nigeria” and who are maggots that only thrive in sewage? However, it is in the interest of the Nigerian political class to redeem themselves by, for once, stepping down from queuing behind the same rotten characters who have kept Nigeria down and with whom there is no hope of redemption for the country.
Unfortunately, the so-called owners of Nigeria, the power demons, must favour one of these characters to be on the ballot. This is the time that the international community must openly support a quest for a better Nigeria which Obi personifies. On a personal note, my frustration about Nigeria being, head or tail, in a cul-de-sac of a Robinhood-led presidency almost pushed me into despondency. It was the reason why, last week, I had to seek consolation in the APC and PDP candidates’ probable redemptive presidency.
However, the infectious awareness and mobilization campaigns of the Nigerian youth, most of whose future has been rendered opaque by these same characters who collaboratively destroyed their tomorrow since 1999, have lifted my spirit. These same youths spoke in October 2020 at the Lekki Toll Gate and in many parts of Nigeria where they were mowed down by agents of selfsame persons now asking for their votes. With a movement being coordinated by youths like Debo Adedayo (Mr Macaroni); Folarin Falana (Falz), and others, optimism was born in me anew.
Whether Obi wins or not isn’t an issue. What is at issue is our collective antagonism against a decadent order. In any case, who says the ancient Latin maxim, Vox Populi, Vox Dei has lost its savour?
The attacks against Peter Obi are ostensibly from rabid supporters of both the PDP and APC Presidential candidates. Bloomberg called these candidates “the two wealthy septuagenarians”.
There doesn’t seem to be anyone who does not know that the two political principalities, however, transcend the baggage of their ages into exampling a rotten order of Nigerian politics.
If you listen to narratives by hunters who go into the heart of the forest in search of dangerous animals for venison, you will have a window into an explanation of our world. Hunters tell us, for instance, that when you hear the chirping noise of a squirrel, a snake is loitering by. Squirrels’ chirps are alarm signals given both to warn off a predator and to warn other squirrels of danger. When squirrels give out this noise repeatedly, the hunter’s gun must be at the ready. A viper, boa constrictor or rattlesnake is poised for a strike.
The forest is a huge resource for the explanation of the human world. It is why hunters claim to have access to three worlds – the animal world, the spirit world and the world of the forest. For those who think this peculiar world ends with humanity, those scary stories show us clearly that this cosmos is one huge world where human beings act as one leg of a tripod of a dramatic space relationship.
If you possess the inner, third eye of the hunter and his alertness and you see the desperation and multiplicity of attacks on the social media against the person of Obi, it will make you recall that squirrel narrative. It will seem to indicate that, in Obi, for the Nigerian politician who is acquiesced to ruining the lives of the people in every election cycle, danger lurks in the neighbourhood. Yoruba hunters eventually wove this squirrel narrative into an aphorism. They say’, “he who will live old enough to bury their parents is never found where there is a chirp of squirrels” – “eni ti y’o sin’ya ati baba re ki duro ni’bi okere ba ti nse”. Like the squirrel narrative above, blessed with clairvoyance deep enough to see danger and threat to a long-established graft empire far off, Obi’s emergence typifies an acute danger to this decadent order. And thus, the chirps.
On the road leading to the 2023 election, Peter Obi seems to have cloned Rosa Parks. Like Parks who refused to accept the intimidation of the white establishment and accept racial evil as fait accompli, Obi is biting the bullet for us and our children yet unborn. He is daring these daemons and maggots of power.
Our children in universities are five months at home, idling their future away. Diesel is almost N1,000 while the Nigerian currency is flat on its belly, grovelling before other currencies of worth. Nigerians are foraging through debris containers for daily bread. Terrorists rip off our bellies at their whims. Our country has become alien to us. The almost eight years of leadership tragedy that Muhammadu Buhari presides over is comatose while he is busy drinking cold fura and nunu.
Peter Obi, on our behalf, is saying that our feet are tired. Nigerians should refuse to give up their votes to those who took us down this dungeon of hopelessness, damn the consequences by voting for who will reshape our lives.
Adedayo, PhD, is a renowned Journalist, and Columnists in the *Sunday Tribune
It is now official. In Zamfara, all citizens are free to carry guns. The State Government has given it an official seal. Once you are of age, and qualified, just apply for a licence to buy and carry a gun. Nobody will say no to anybody. Not the Commissioner of Police. Not anybody.
The State Governor Bello Matawalle, took this drastic and unprecedented action, following the escalating insecurity in the State. Bandits and terrorists run riot in the State. And, inspite of the spirited efforts of Security Agencies, to tackle them, like ants, they multiply by the day. When everybody carries a gun, the State Government reasoned, they can protect themselves from the monsters.
Following is the statement from the State Government on why it has become imperative for its subjects to carry guns, and the modalities for issuing it to them.
The statement was signed by Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, the Commissioner for Information.
“Following increase in the activities of bandits in various parts of the State and the Government’s commitment to ensure adequate security and protection of lives and property of the citizenry in the state, particularly during this rainy season, Government has resolved to take further measures to deal with the recent escalating attacks, kidnapping and the criminal levies being enforced on our innocent communities.
“This act of terrorism has been a source of worry and concern to the people and Government of the State. Therefore, in order to deal decisively with the situation in our respective communities, Government has no option than to take the following measures:
“A: Government has henceforth, directed individuals to prepare and obtain guns to defend themselves against the bandits, as Government has directed the State Commissioner of Police to issue license to all those who qualify and are wishing to obtain such guns to defend themselves.
“Government is ready to facilitate people, especially our farmers to secure basic weapons for defending themselves.
“Government has already concluded arrangement to distribute 500 forms to each of the 19 Emirates in the state for those willing to obtain guns to defend themselves.
“People must apply from the Commissioner of Police, license to own guns and such other basic weapons to be used in defending themselves.
C.” A secretariat or centre will be established for the collection of intelligence on the activities of informants.
“People are strictly warned and advised to make sure that any information or intelligence about an informant must be true and nothing but the truth, as all information on such informants must carry correct data on the suspects, including their pictures, correct names, address, occupation and witness to testify the genuity of the information given, as government is taking punitive measures against any one found as informant. Any person who give wrong information against anybody, will be served the same punishment with an informant and will be treated as such.
“Government has requested the state House of Assembly to pass, as matter of urgency, the informants bill before it, to enable government take the drastic measures on informants as contained in the bill.
“Government has ordered for the recruitment of 200 additional Community Protection Guards in each of the 19 Emirates of the state, making it 500 per Emirate, to increase their manpower and strengthen its force and capacity to deal with the bandits.
“To further ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of these measures, as well the proper implementation of these measures, government has also decided as follows:
“Formation of a Special Committee to receive intelligence on the activities of informants.
This Committee has the following composition:
Alhaji Kabiru Balarabe Sardau( Lamidon Kaura), SSG, as Chairman
Alh Ibrahim Sulaiman, Chief of Staff to the Governor – Member
DIG Mamman Ibrahim Tsafe, Commissioner Security – Member
Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, Commissioner Information – Member
Hon Nasiru Masama, Commissioner Youth – Member
Sani Abdullahi Wamban Shinkafi, Honorary Adviser to the Gov – Member
Hon Abubakar Mohammed Dauran, Specie Adviser Security – Member
Hon Sanusi Wanzammai, Commissioner, State INEC – Member
Captain Mai Riga T/ Mafara – Memner
Sani Gwamna Mayanchi – Memner
Bello Bakyasuwa Soja to serve as the secretary to the committee and their terms of reference will be given to them by the office of the SSG on Monday.
Formation of additional paramilitary unit to support control and command to properly and effectively reinforce the operations of our community protection guards CPG.
This newly established unit has the following structures and appointments:
Retired Commissioner of Police Mamman Anka as Commandant – General
Capt Aminu Mada rtd – Deputy Commandant General Operations
Sulaiman Lawali Zurmi – Commandant Operations
Bashir Nafiu Gusau – Commandant Mobilization.
Alh Aliyu Na’ibi Karakkai – Commandant Surveillance and Intelligence.
“Other members of the Control and Command Centre of the Community Protection Guards are:
Shi’itu Makera T/Mafara
Bello Dankurmi
Dogo Na Bukkuyum
Re – constitutimg the State Committee on prosecution of banditry related offences.
Government has also reconstituted the state committee on prosecution of bandits related offences as follows:
Dr Sani Abdullahi Wanban Shinkafi as Chairman
Ibrahim Sulaiman
Chief of Staff to the Governor – Member
Rtd Justice Nasiru Umar Gummi – Member
CP Mamman Anka rtd – Member
Engr Mamuda Aliyu Maradun – Member
Rep of the Nigerian Army – Member
Rep of the Nigeria Police – Member
Rep of the DSS – Membet
Rep of the Civil Defence Corps – Member
Rep of Hunters – Member, while
Barr Aminu Junaidu Kaura
Hon Attorney General and Commissioner for justice – Secretary to the committee.
“Furthermore, in view of the deteriorating security situation in Mada, Wonaka, and Ruwan Bore Districts of Gusau Local Government, as well as Yansoto emirate in Tsafe local government, His Excellency, Governor Mohammed Matawalle MON, Barden Hausa and Shatiman Sokoto, has approved the immediate closure of all.markets and Kara in these districts and Yandoto emirate indefinitely. In addition this, government has equally banned riding of motorbikes and selling of petroleum products in Mada, Wonaka and Ruwan Bore districts, as well as Yandoto emirate.
“Henceforth, all filling stations on the affected areas are hereby closed with immediate effect. Anybody found riding motorbike within the areas is considered as bandits and security agencies are thereby directed to shoot such persons at sight. Security agencies are by this announcement directed to ensure strict compliance. Anybody found violating this order should be dealt with according to the rule of law. Government would not condone any act where innocent people are being killed.
“Government is also using this medium to thank all those who honoured and respect the peace dialogue in what ever form. In the same vein, those who refused to honour and respect the peace dialogue are here by warned to allow peace within our respective communities. Government is hereby directing the military, police, civil defence and other security agencies to mobilise their operatives and take fight to the enclaves of the criminals with immediate effect.”
“Signed
“Ibrahim Magaji Dosara
Hon Commissioner for Information
Zamfara State.”
This medium could not confirm if the State Government got clearance from relevant authorities in Abuja before it took this decision of allowing and encouraging its citizens to carry guns.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has slammed the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, for ordering APC faithfuls to dig into the trenches in order to win the upcoming Governorship election.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP reminded Adamu that no election is war. It accused Adamu of inciting the people to go to war over the Governorship election which holds in three weeks time.
Said the PDP: “It is distressing that the APC has become so chaotic in the pursuit of its territorial occupation agenda that the National Chairman brews the Osun State Governorship election as a warfare in which the people must be conquered.”
Following is the full text of the statement.
Your Incitement Cannot Save Oyetola- PDP Mocks Abdullahi Adamu; APC Jittery Over Adeleke’s Popularity
“The National Chairman of the fizzling All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Abdullahi Adamu should know that his resort to incitement in the forthcoming Osun State Governorship election cannot save the colorless, rejected and sinking Governor Gboyega Oyetola from inevitable defeat in the July 16, 2022 poll.
“The PDP describes the statement by the APC National Chairman as reckless, irresponsible and shows the level of APC’s aversion to peaceful electoral process and disdain for the democratic right, freedom and sovereignty of the people of Osun State to freely and peacefully choose their leaders.
“It is pertinent to remind Abdullahi Adamu that election is not a warfare! Directing his party members to “go down to the trenches” in the Osun State Governorship election and brazenly asserting zero tolerance for election defeat cannot find accommodation within the ambits of the law.
“Abdullahi Adamu’s comment further confirms that the APC is in mortal fear of Senator Adeleke’s soaring popularity, realizing that Governor Oyetola is no match for Senator Adeleke; a blunt reality for which the APC National Chairman has now become frenetic.
“It is distressing that the APC has become so chaotic in the pursuit of its territorial occupation agenda that the National Chairman views the Osun State governorship election as a warfare in which the people must be conquered.
“More provoking is Abdullahi Adamu’s brazen assertion that the APC has no apology for such an irresponsible, reckless and offensive “posture” against the sensibilities of the people of Osun State.
“Nigerians clearly observed the nerviness and dread of defeat written all over the APC National Chairman’s face while inaugurating and threatening the APC’s National Campaign Council on Osun Governorship Election not to come back crying in defeat; a fate that already awaits the APC on July 16.
“Abdullahi Adamu should know that the Osun State Governorship election is not about incitements, issuing of threats and grandstanding as a ruling Party. He must understand that this election is a referendum on the monumental failure of the APC in Osun State and that the people are solidly behind Senator Ademola Adeleke in their resolve to liberate themselves from the stranglehold of the incompetent, vicious and inhumane APC administration in Osun State.
“Governor Oyetola in the last four years, displayed unparalleled incompetence in governance and ran the most ineffective and clueless administration in the history of Osun State.
“This is why the people of Osun State are determined to kick out Governor Oyetola and elect Senator Ademola Adeleke who, in any event, defeated Governor Oyetola fair and square in the September 2018 Governorship election.
“The PDP therefore cautions Abdullahi Adamu to retreat and rein in his thugs, political terrorists and band of riggers as they will be stiffly resisted by the people.
“The PDP also urges President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately call the APC National Chairman to order and advise him to accept the imminent defeat that awaits Governor Oyetola and the APC on July 16.”
