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Insult On Journalist: Fani-Kayode Under Fire; Says He Was Misinterpreted By NUJ; IPC Slams Him |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, is under fire, even as he struggles to clear, the air on an incident involving himself and a journalist in Calabar.

A simple but deep and mischievous question by a Reporter,  Eyo Charles of the Daily Trust brought out the very worst in him, made nonsense of his press conference, and over-shadowed the essence of his trip to Calabar.

The reporter had sought to know who was bankrolling his trips across PDP states. That stung, touched a raw nerve, and as Fani-Kayode said while hauling insults, he (FFK), has a short fuse, which apparently burst.

Condemnation to his shocking reaction has come like claps of thunder.

A shocked leadership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ,  berated him  for the ugly incident, saying he threw caution to the wind.

And so has the International Press Centre, IPC.

In a statement by Chris Isiguzo, NUJ President, the body noted that:  “By denigrating the journalist, Fani-Kayode has exposed himself the more as an intolerant and unstable person who will not want his activities closely scrutinised by the Media.

“It is instructive to remind the likes of Fani Kayode that it is the Constitutional right of Journalists to monitor, and keep a check on people and institutions in power.”

It continued:

“By delving into politics and holding political office, Fani Kayode is very conversant with the watchdog role of the media.

“So, for him to have embarked on an assessment of projects in some states, even though we are yet to be told under what platform, he is doing so, it is proper for the media to hold him to account for his actions and decisions.

“His reaction  was totally unacceptable, dishonourable and reprehensible and we demand a retraction of his untoward, irritating and awkward utterances which negate simple decorum and civility.

“We are more shocked that the same Kayode who had in recent times, used his social media handles to call leaders to account is at the same time attacking a Journalist for a simple demand for him to unmask those behind his nationwide tour. He had already visited six states. This is indeed, terribly disappointing.”

The International Press Centre (IPC) condemns the verbal assault inflicted on the journalist by Fani Kayode.

In a video posted by The Cable, an online newspaper, Charles was seen asking the former Minister, if he was funded to embark on a tour of projects in the state to which he responded with verbal attacks.

The Minister was seen threatening to deal with  Charles, who has since claimed that a security detail in the entourage of the former Minister confronted him after the press conference.

In its reaction, IPC said Fani-Kayode’s it viewed Fani-Kayode’s action as repulsive and unacceptable since there was nothing wrong with  Charles wanting to know if the tour was an independent initiative or a sponsored one.

“The former Minister had the option of not answering the question and the abuses were totally out of place in the context of the event”, the Executive Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade said.

He continued:

“The IPC, therefore, demands that the former Minister should apologise to the Journalist and give an assurance of his safety in view of the alleged further threats.

“IPC is of the view that journalists who are saddled with the constitutional obligation of monitoring governance and holding the government accountable to the people should not be subjected to harassment in the course of duty.”

However, in response to both the  NUJ and IPC, Fani-Kayode said he was misunderstood, and explained:

“During my tour of the South, and after a long and successful press conference in Calabar, Cross Rivers state, a journalist put up his hand for the last question and said,

“Well we do not know who is bankrolling you. This is not a question, but an assertion and an insult.

“And if this insulting ASSERTION were made before Trump or OBJ, I know how they would have reacted. Above is my response & I have no apology to offer for it. The young man apologised to me during the press conference & sent his apologies to me after the conference..

“..I have accepted his apologies & moved on. I have always had respect for journalists & always will. Those of them that know me or worked with or for me over the last 30 years can attest to that. However there is a distinction between asking a question & offering an insult.

“This is all the more so when it is clear that the assertion was sponsored and engineered by my political enemies who wanted to use the young man to insult and embarrass me and question my integrity. Well they got more than they bargained for.

“I repeat this was not a question but an assertion and an gratutious insult and I will not accept that from any man born of woman. Thank you.

“Permit me to add the following. I have taken note of the report by Daily Trust on the incident. The content is false. I didn’t send any of my security men to threaten their reporter. I only reprimanded him for a premeditated plan to embarrass me & he apologised.. thereafter. That was all.

“This is not a battle between me and the esteemed Nigerian journalists who respect the ethics of the noble profession. I have always been and will always be a friend to journalists and a champion of freedom of speech. What I will not accept are..

“Brazen insults from an individual in the name of journalism. The assertion or assumption that I am being bankrolled by anyone is deeply insulting. Finally to the NUJ I say u have got me completely wrong. It would have been better if you had heard my own side of the story..

“…and established who was behind this whole incident and attempt to embarrass me, who paid for it and how much they paid before going to press. Nevertheless I still hold you in high esteem”

CBN Targets Media, Aviation Sectors With Bailout Packages |The Source

By
Bayo Bernard
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0
Godwin-Emefiele-CBN-Governor

By Fola James

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has included the media and Aviation among the sectors to receive bailout to prevent job loss in the sectors.

Godwin Emefiele disclosed this on Tuesday on the apex bank’s official twitter handle. He said the intervention was necessary to mitigate the impacts of COVID 19 on the two sectors.

The CBN Governor, speaking at the end of the monthly Bankers’ Committee stated that “Such support is critical to helping the industry recover from the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He urged commercial banks to make credit facilities available to the media and aviation industries to prevent massive job losses and frustration being currently experienced due to the pandemic.

In May, two months after the federal government announced total shutdown of the country to stop the spread of the virus, some media houses announced that they could no longer pay salaries as the stay-at-home order have reduced revenue from sales and advertising drastically.

Major media houses in the country, print and electronic have either cut salaries by over 50 per cent while others have also cut the number of their employees by at least 40 per cent.

The Nation newspapers sacked100 out of about 500 workers across Nigeria have been sacked and still counting while it also slashed salaries of staff earning over N60,000 by 50 per cent.

Ademola Osinubi, the managing director of Punch while lamenting the impacts of the COVID 19 on its operation told staff that the management must rationalize to cope with the economic realities.

This includes slashing pages of the dailies from 62 to 32, Osinubi said because “This pandemic has dealt with our business telling and severe blows. Our circulation and advertisement revenues dipped dangerously, compounding the operational and revenue challenges birthed by the migration of a majority of print newspaper readers and adverts to digital platforms.”

The case is not different in the Aviation sector where companies such Air Peace and Bristoe Helicopters Limited have sacked 70 per cent of their staff while salaries have been cut by at least 40 per cent.

Frustrated by the development some trade unions such as the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ and Aviation Workers Union, had appealed to the federal government to provide stimulus packages for the two sectors like it did in other critical sectors.

CBN had in May announced a N1.2 trillion intervention fund to support critical sectors of the economy, N1 trillion of which was to support local manufacturing sector and to boost import substitution.

Out of this, a N100 billion to support the health sector in equipping laboratories and enhancing research to produce vaccines and test kits in Nigeria, while another  N100 billion was provided as a stimulus package to support households and micro, small and medium enterprises affected by the pandemic known as Targeted Credit Facility, TCF.

Dr Mailafia Loses Job At NIPSS |The Source

By
The Source
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Dr Mailiafia Obadiah

By Gideon Njoku

The interview granted to a Radio Station by Dr Obodiah Mailafia has cost him his job at the high profile National Institute of Policy and Strategic and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Kuru, Jos.

Dr Mailafia, an ex- Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, quit from his position as a very senior Directing Staff of the Institute on Tuesday.

It is not known if he quit on his own, or forced to quit, but Dr Mailafia has had a running battle with the law since he granted the damning  interview to a Radio station, alleging a couple of things he has  been unable to prove.

Among others, he had alleged that a serving Northern Governor was a Commander of the insurgent group, Boko Haram. He has also said that the sect would embark on a killing spree of prominent people in  cities, and that there will be a civil war in Nigeria in 2022.

He attributed his source to intelligence gathering, and repentant Boko Haram Commanders, who he claimed to have discussed with on, at least,  three occasions.

The interview had gone viral on Whatsaap, triggering reactions like claps of thunder.

Worried about the implications of the contents of the interview, the Directorate of State Services, DSS, did the expected in such circumstances. He was invited to the Service’s Jos office, where he was grilled for about six hours and granted bail.

Questioned by Journalists just after his release, he said DSS personnel were very courteous and civil to him, but  admitted his own mistake. He ought to have collaborated his sources from other sources, he said, but then, went on to speak as if he stood by his story.

That prompted the DSS to issue a statement, disclosing that Mailafia had apologised profusely while with them, admitting that his sources were in deed traders in the market, and not from Boko Haram Commanders as he had claimed in his Radio interview. The Service accused him of playing to the gallery, by talking as if he stood by his story while he was with them inside.

A couple of days later, he was invited again by the DSS, and released in less than an hour. But, a few days later, the Police extended a letter of invitation to him to the Force Headquarters, Abuja.

But it was an invitation he had no intention of honouring, after he had made it public. On Monday, he proceeded to a Jos High Court and secured an injunction, enforcing his human rights, and not to be “harassed” by the Police.

On Tuesday, his Counsel, Yakubu Bawa, told the Press that his client has resigned his position in NIPSS.

Not a few people were surprised that Mailfia, was on the staff of NIPSS when he made the allegations, and that he had waited this long to resign.

Speaking on Mailfia, Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari,  had taken a swipe at him, and wondered if anybody thought Mailafia would not be called to question over his “irresponsible” pronouncements.

The Radio station which aired the interview, was fined the sum of five million Naira, for airing an alleged “hate speech.”

774,000 Jobs: PDP House Of Reps Caucus To Sue President Buhari, Keyamo |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0
Muhammadu Buhari

By Akinwale Kasali

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, caucus members in the House of Representatives are set to sue President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of State, Labour, Employment and Productivity, Festus Keyamo over the 774,000 job scheme.  They alleged it is politically motivated.

They allege the Federal Government is undermining the National Assembly, especially on the Special Public Works Scheme by the Federal Government.

The PDP caucus, which said it had “unequivocally rejected and dissociated itself” from the programme, “strongly” admonished its members to ignore the letters written to Senators and House members by State coordinators of the National Directorate of Employment on behalf of Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

The lawmaker particularly accused Keyamo and the NDE management of disregarding the Parliament under Buhari’s watch.

Also, the caucus apologised to Nigerians for being part of the National Assembly that approved the N52bn for the implementation of the programme in the 2020 Appropriation Act.

The lawmakers also declared the N20,000 stipend to be paid to each beneficiary for three months as illegal as it is against the provisions of the National Minimum Wages Act.

Leader of the PDP caucus, Kingsley Chinda, said this in a statement issued on Monday, titled ‘774,000 Job Scheme: PDP Caucus Says Scheme Politically Motivated, Unsustainable…Vows to Employ Legal Action to Address Encroachment of Statutory Functions, Fundamental Human Rights.’

Chinda added, “The PDP caucus of the House, as members of the National Assembly, does not exonerate itself from responsibility in the approval of funds for implementation of the misguided Special Public Works Programme and unreservedly apologise to Nigerians for the planned misapplication of their scarce resources.”

He stated, “The caucus has resolved to employ legislative and lawful processes including institution of legal action were necessary to address any encroachment on the performance of our statutory functions and fundamental human rights.

NIDCOM Boss, Dabiri-Erewa, Warns Parents Against Schools In Cyprus; Laments Death Sentences In UAE |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman of Nigerians In Diaspora  Commission, NIDCOM, is saddened, and yet to come to terms to the decision of the United Arab Emirates government to sentence Eight Nigerians to death.

The former lawmaker described the situation as unfortunate.

She has also warned Nigerian parents against sending their children to Universities in Northern Cyprus over the incessant, and mysterious killings of Nigerians.

Dabiri-Erewa gave the warning on Monday, saying it was too risky to send children to the schools in Northern Cyprus as hundreds of Nigerian students had been killed there mysteriously without any conclusive investigations carried out.

She said this when she received,  in her office, a delegation led by Justice Amina Bello, mother of a Nigerian student, Ibrahim Khaleel, who was killed in inexplicable circumstances in that country.

She stressed that the death of Khaleel, a third-year Engineering student, has brought to a tipping point the incessant killings of Nigerian students in Northern Cyprus under baffling circumstances.

The NIDCOM boss, who read out 15 names of Nigerians from a list of more than 100, who were killed in Northern Cyprus, said it was difficult to employ international diplomacy in investigation as the country is only recognised by Turkey.

“The death of Ibrahim Khaleel should be the tipping point to a stop in the killing of our children anywhere in the world, particularly Northern Cyprus.

“It is not only Ibrahim. Kennedy Dede, 28; Augustine Ngok, Gabriel Sorewei, Osabanjo Owoyale, Augustine Wallace, Stanley Eteno, Hassan Babatunde, Temitayo Adigun, and Kubat Abraham are just a few of the ones that we even know.

“The problem is that most Nigerian parents do not know that Northern Cyprus is not recognised by any country in the world.

“It is not a UN-recognised country. It is only recognised by Turkey. That is why we have not been able to do much.

“Who do you report to? Thousands of Nigerian students are schooling there and I tell you that hundreds have been killed. Who do you take these cases to?

“And they are killed in similar circumstances. The school just tells you, ‘Well, they committed suicide,’ and nothing happens.

“We are going to list all these names of Nigerians that have been killed and we demand justice. There has been no prosecution and no compensation.

“No Nigerian parent should send their children to any university in Northern Cyprus – there is a collaboration which we do not understand that makes them kill blacks, particularly our Nigerian students,” she said.

She assured the mother of the deceased student that the Commission would work with her to demand justice, not only for her son but also for other Nigerians who have been killed while studying in Northern Cyprus.

She said the case had already been transferred to INTERPOL through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation.

The NIDCOM chairman recalled that when she was a serving lawmaker and Sorewei’s killing was on the front burner in Nigeria, the school which seemed unapologetic about the killing had already sent its agents to lure more Nigerians with juicy scholarships.

While acknowledging that Nigerian schools needed improvements, she gave an assurance of President Muhammadu Buhari’s dedication to improving the education sector and insisted that many Nigerian schools were better than some of the acclaimed foreign universities in spite of the odds.

She said that there were already reports that many of the courses being offered by the “shoddy” universities in Northern Cyprus were not accredited, pledging that NIDCOM would work with the Nigerian Universities Commission for a possible blacklist of certificates from the country.

“Yes our universities have challenges. There are strikes and you don’t (always) know when you are going to finish but there are some of these universities that you will regret you even went to, including some in Africa.

“It is better to go to a private university here than to go to some of these places that we go to in the name of ‘our children are in Europe’.

“We have written the NUC. The key thing is to blacklist Northern Cyprus and to stop our children from going to that country to study.

“We will be working with the NUC to list all the universities in Northern Cyprus and blacklist them. We cannot be letting them kill our children.

She said that NIDCOM had met with the Ambassador of Turkey to Nigeria, who being new, said he was unaware of the killing but promised to look into the matter.

She added there were plans by NIDCOM to visit Northern Cyprus after the COVID-19 Pandemic to see things as clearly as they were.

She admonished Nigerians schooling abroad to make it a point of duty to always report to the Nigerian mission in that country upon arrival.

Speaking earlier, the mother of the late student said that she was yet to come to terms with the death of her son whom was reported to have committed suicide but circumstances showed otherwise.

She said that autopsy reports and investigations which she had requested in the past seven months were yet to come, adding that the school authorities were being evasive.

She said that while she was told by authorities that her son jumped from the 7th floor of a building, there was no visible injury on his body or head to suggest that.

Disgraceful: Ex- Super Eagles Says Most Players In The National Team Are Fetish, Destroy Talents |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Chidi Nwanu

By Akinwale Kasali

Former Super Eagles defender, Chidi Nwanu, has made a startling revelation about players in the National team.

The former national team defender said most players in the National team usually go diabolical to get the nod of the coaches to feature them, to be loved by people. He also alleged that they engage in destroying a lot talents.

The former Enyimba defender who is now an evangelist, also, revealed he won’t go into coaching if called upon by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) saying he’ll rather motivate players than coach.

Nwanu who has joined the league of ex-players are winning souls for God said : ”I am in the ministry. That is why I said, a team that has all these fetish things will not do well. And that is what some players do and they have destroyed a lot of talents.

“Nigeria needs to look into the moral discipline and moral behaviour of its players. If you look at the way we carry ourselves and project ourselves here, there is a lot of difference between us and our European counterparts. The Europeans play with all their hearts, but we take it easy as if there is nothing at stake.”

When asked if he would accept an offer to coach the Super Eagles, he said:  ”I have always answered this question in a particular way. To be a coach is not the only way you can help a team to succeed. There are many other ways. Like in Europe here, they have motivational speakers to stir up their spirits.

“The one that is emotionally down, maybe he finds himself not playing well, he goes through that process in order to get well. Somebody can be in the technical team, helping the coach to select players in their various positions. If you look at some teams today, they seem to have players who play in the same position but scattered in different positions.

“When you do that, you can’t have a strong team. One can help the national team in the area of fitness, welfare, disciplinary aspect because some players could be better players if they were disciplined, etc. Sometimes it could be bad lifestyles and you help them.”

Chidi won 20 caps for Nigeria, and was part of the squads for the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1988 Summer Olympics.

The revelation by Nwanu further corroborates the disclosure of another ex-international, Taribo West, who’s also a Pastor working in the vineyard of God.

West said that they go as far as Mali, Togo, Cote D’Ivoire to engage in festish practices during their days so that they could be the best.

He said in the process, a lot of talents are gone, because they would be the only one person to see and no striker can dribble them.

West later revealed that all that was vanity upon vanity, because it wouldn’t last. When the repercussion comes, they will always blame themselves.

Nigeria To Concession Airports as Airline Fortunes Plummet |The Source

By
Uche Mbah
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0

By Uche Mbah

Nigeria’s aviation sector may take up two years to recover from the effects of COVID 19 as it continues to experience financial drag in spite of government’s reopening of operations, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika has said.

“I think until quarter four of 2021 and perhaps quarter one of 2022, we will continue to see a sharp decline in passengers and that is directly proportional to the revenue that we collect because people’s confidence has to be raised,” Hadi Sirika said.

Sirika had recently announced the resumption of International flights August 29. Before now, it was only chartered flights and flights with special permissions that flew the Nigerian airspace.

Airlines have been having running battles with Aviation unions over staff welfare and load shedding, with ultimatums causing turbulence in the industry.

Federal  Airports Authority had reported N44.39 billion losses in 3-year due to the non-profitability of some airports. Besides Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt, other Airports, particularly those in the North, are not self-sustaining.

The losses according to a report were incurred in the operations of 17 airports across the country as lack of sufficient traffic, huge overhead and maintenance cost dominated expenditures

“They have to begin to want to fly again and certain factors that encourage propensity to fly are also being eroded during this period,” the minister said while interacting with Nigerian lawmakers in Abuja”, he said.

According to him, the sector has run into difficult and challenging times due to the impact of coronavirus pandemic.

“We are not in the business of selling phones that we can still sell and get the required revenue. The revenue for yesterday is lost. Therefore, we are hugely impacted by the COVID,” He said, adding that many advanced countries appear to be spending huge resources to support the civil aviation industry after the reopening of airspace and resumption  of operations. But Nigeria, he said, is falling short of its responsibilities n this regard.

For this reason, he said, Government plans to concession some airports in the country, and has already concluded the basic outlines, only waiting for concessionaires. He said privatization is no longer the option because concession“is simple and that is because this government, the APC administration is social democratic in nature, it does not want to sell national assets.”

“If the government is not able to fund us because of the the challenge of income, then the government should not take the little we have. Every single agency in civil aviation is so critical that we need to fund it and because we understand the nature of this business, that was why we have now introduced the concession of our airports.

“We have now done the outline business case, we are now going ahead for the procurement to concession this airport.

“It wants to keep the assets with the people but we can concession them and improve thebm to make them better. We are very sure that when we do that, we will improve the revenue of the nation.”

Rivers: Lloyd Dumps Amaechi, Apologises to Wike, Joins PDP |The Source

By
The Source
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0
Dr Chidi Lloyd

By Gideon Njoku

Minister for Transportation has lost a close political ally.

Dr Chidi Lloyd, the Director General of the All Progressives Congress, APC, during the 2019 Governorship election, not only abandoned Amaechi, he ,also, apologised to the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, over a fight in the House of Assembly in 2013.

Lloyd capped his apology by dumping the APC for the PDP, saying he was ready, and available to join hands with the Governor for the good of the state.

In 2013, under  Amaechi’s Governorship, Lloyd, who was the Leader of the House of Assembly, was central to a fistcuff in the House, for which Amaechi rushed down to the House, and was captured jumping tables, almost, to join in the fray.

But on a visit to Wike at the Government House, Dr Lloyd said: “My people have asked me to tell you that we will henceforth join hands with you in the Peoples Democratic Party.

“Your Excellency, I thank God today that all the dramatis personae that were involved in that shameful are alive. None was buried.

“Your Excellency, I tender an unreserved apology for whatever actions that may have been ascribed to me. I am truly sorry for the pain which I may have caused my brother, Michael Okechukwu Chinda.”

A happy and excited Wike, in welcoming Lloyd, said he was happy Lloyd was back home, noting that Lloyd was his friend and brother.

With Lloyd’s defection, Amaechi has lost another close ally. Even though he and his former Secretary to the Government, Senator Magnus Abe,  are still in the same party, their relationship is very sour.

Abe was an unabashed loyalist of Amaechi before they fell out.

Hate Speech: Ondo PDP Calls For Arrest Of APC Chieftain, Kekemeke |The Source

By
Ayodele Oni
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0
Isaac Kekemeke

By Ayodele Oni, Akure

Knocks and condemnations have greeted a viral video where a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) in Ondo state was reported to have threatened war on opposition during the October 10 Governorship election.

A traditional ruler in the state, the Regent of Ibule, Princess Olubunmi Falowo described insinuations in the viral video as falling short of the personality of Mr Isaac Kekemeke.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called on security agencies to arrest the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Mr. Isaac Kekemeke, over the inciting and threatening comments.

Kekemeke, former state chairman of APC and one of the aspirants in the last Governorship primary, had boasted in a  viral video that thugs and federal might would be used during the October 10, 2020 gubernatorial election in the state.

The State chairman of the PDP, Mr Fatai Adams said that his party has filed petitions with security agencies in the state asking for the arrest of the APC chieftain.

“There’s this viral video where one Isaac Kekemeke, former chairman of APC in Ondo State, openly admitted that APC thugs, sponsored by Akeredolu, were responsible for destroying campaign bill boards and posters of Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, the PDP standard bearer.

“He also confessed that the NURTW will be mobilized with arms and ammunition to rig the election in favour of the APC. He admitted in like manner that Federal Might(whatever that means) will be brought to bear on the elections in Ondo State.

“We are very surprised that up till now, the security agencies have not apprehended D.I. Kekemeke to answer for his utterances that are capable of precipitating crisis and setting Ondo State on fire ahead of the gubernatorial election in the state.

“We’ve sent letters to security agencies this morning (Monday). The security agencies are representatives of Mr. President and we believe through this, he will intervene.

“We are doing this to guarantee free and fair election in the state during the forthcoming gubernatorial election on October 10, 2020.

“His statement was careless, very reckless and unbecoming of a man who parades himself as a lawyer. By his utterances, he’s a huge disgrace to his profession and party.

“PDP is law-abiding and ready to play the game according to the rule. We believe the security agencies will be able to handle this.”

However, PDP declared it was ready for the October 10, 2020 gubernatorial election, saying “as a party, we are prepared for a free and fair election, and Akeredolu and his party should do the same.

“But if there’s any violence during this period, Akeredolu and APC should be held responsible.”

Kekemeke had admitted making those words but claimed that they were side talks which one of his boys mistakenly posted to the social media.

In an open letter, the Regent of Ibulesoro, Regent Olubunmi Falowo expressed disappointment with the trending video where Kekemeke boasted about his machinery of violence and intimidation during the forthcoming gubernatorial elections.

“I saw the video multiple times in disbelief that it couldn’t have been you sir. Even though I have no personal relationship with you, I felt hurt and betrayed by a leader I admire. I was scared when you called yourself a militant.”

Urging the APC chieftain to apologise to the people of Ondo State, the Regent pointed out that “it may have been political, but to us, it was a threat to our collective peace as a people. Kindly also commit to a violence free process. If not because of today, do it because of tomorrow.”

Ronaldinho Regains Freedom, Released From Jail |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0
Ronaldinho

By Akinwale Kasali

For over five months, former World Best Footballer of the Year, Ronaldinho De Assis was  in jail in Asuncion, Paraguay for entering the country with fake passport.

But Ronaldinho has now been released from the jail  in Paraguay, where he was arrested in March.

The former Barcelona, AC Milan and Brazil star, Ronaldinho was finally released from jail in Paraguay after nearly five months.

Ronaldinho and his brother, Roberto Assis, were both jailed in the South American country.

The pair were moved from jail to house arrest in a Paraguayan hotel in April after serving 32 days in prison.

Ronaldinho, a key part of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup-winning squad, and his brother were released from house arrest on Monday.

While Ronaldinho paid a $90,000 fine, his brother was fined $110,000, while travel conditions were imposed on both.

The former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder won 97 caps for Brazil between 1999 and 2013, scoring 33 times.

Ronaldinho also won the Ballon d’Or in 2005.

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