The telephone conversation was brief and direct. “Mr. Yusuf, you have to help me deliver this message from God to Nigerians: my secret for 2023 presidential election is Bola Ahmed Tinubu sayeth the Lord,” Bishop Kayode Williams said when he called The Nation recently. Williams, who is better known for evangelism in prisons having spent time in prison himself for armed robbery where he met Christ, said thrice did he receive the message from heaven. An appointment for interview was thus agreed. He spoke exclusively to IBRAHIM APEKHADE YUSUF and FUNKE COLE. Excerpts:

Can you shed more light on the message from God about Asiwaju Bola Tinubu winning the 2023 presidential elections?

This story started in 2014 when God spoke and sincerely directed me to inform all the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC). That was before the primaries. And I wrote to all of them, starting from the then Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie Oyegun; and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the party. They were all struggling then. They didn’t know whether they should vote for Muhammadu Buhari or not. God said, no, Buhari was His choice that I should tell the nation so. So, I wrote a letter to all of them that were in that contest including Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwanso, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.


Everything is there: their names, the dates and copies of the letter. I hope they’re not going to deny me. Even God did not ask me to go and deliver the letters myself. He (God) asked me to connect Oba Adedapo Adewale Tejuoso to give out those letters to all of them. Oba Tejuoso now decided to send the letters by DHL. All of them received their copies. Some of them stepped down for Buhari. I think one or two refused. But the result is history now.

Later God told me that Buhari would defeat the incumbent president, the person there. It was a bit controversial because so many people who heard about it said the incumbent could not be easily defeated. And for the first time in the history of this country, the incumbent, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was defeated. Shortly after that phase, there was something that happened in Ondo State; it was during the primaries for who would be the governor of the state; so everywhere was tensed. And God asked me to write Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the traditional rulers in Nigeria, particularly obas in the Southwest specifically for them to intervene and allow Rotimi Akeredolu to contest because that was what God said to me; that he (Akeredolu) would win the election. God specifically instructed the obas and Asiwaju Tinubu to support Akeredolu because God has a bigger assignment in the future for him (Tinubu); that all Yoruba must unite and respect Tinubu.

That was what God told me. He (God) said Tinubu should be humble. I specifically took a copy to Akeredolu. God said that Akeredolu should humble himself before Tinubu because He (God) had chosen him (Tinubu) for the upliftment of the Yorubas and the Nigerian nation. When I took the letter to Akeredolu I didn’t see him after enduring some long hours of waiting. So, I said to myself, I have been in prison and since God brought me out I thought to myself that why should I be going to give messages to people.

Thankfully, before Akeredolu became governor I had known him, so I called his phone number and delivered the message. Akeredolu was once my lawyer when I was in prison. Mind you, he wasn’t the one that handled my criminal case. No. The case he handled for me was another case entirely. They (authorities) said there was a riot in the prison and that I didn’t support them to silent the inmates because their action was capable of breaching peace in the prison.

That was the case. So, Akeredolu heard about the case and came to assist. So, when I came out of prison, we became friends. Akeredolu won the primaries and also won the election and the rest as they say is history. Again, in 2018 and 2019, when the electioneering campaigns began, some group of pastors came together. Let me say this. All pastors in Nigeria are divided into three bodies. We have the bigger body, Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), which is the umbrella body of all Christians in Nigeria. We have founders of churches; some of them are not against CAN neither are they regular members of CAN, but they are kings in their different cathedrals. We also have independent ministers of God, who have nobody to help them up there or even down below. So, they remain there but they are working according to God’s directives in their small way.

They may not have a large congregation, but when aggregated they are more in numbers than the Anglicans, the Catholics, all all other big churches put together. These set of churches by independent ministers are in large numbers and these are the people that really vote. Majority of our leaders don’t vote; it is not even convenient for some leaders in the church. Even if they receive messages they want to announce to the church that God Has spoken, you must follow this man or that man, it is not possible because church members don’t belong to only one party. But as for independent pastors, when God speaks to them, they can direct their members on what to do because the message is a mandate from God, which is different because there are pastors called hirelings, who are recruited and paid by some masters. As a hireling, you cannot go beyond what your masters say. I’m not using this to put down anybody. God sees my mind. I’m only trying to analyse things.

The majority of people that will vote are within ourorganisation, the Integrity Ministers International Ministry Incorporated (IMIM). We have members across the different 774 local government areas in the federation. We’re seriously in control of the grassroots. And that is why my message must be general considering the respect that I have for all our leaders in big churches. I’m giving them the message of God. I’m not forcing anybody. I’m only saying the truth that they should look at it and consider whether it is from the Lord or not, because the Bible says they have the right to go into prophetical message and analyse.

The United States State Department has cleared the sale of 12 AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopters to Nigeria worth nearly $1bn, apparently after US lawmakers lifted objections over human rights concerns.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Thursday announced the sale of the helicopters and related defence systems to the Nigerian military.

The package includes $25m for human rights-related training, according to YahooNews.

The sale includes the Bell-made Cobras; 28 General Electric-made T700-401C engines; 2,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems used to convert unguided missiles into precision-guided missiles; and night vision, targeting and navigation systems.

The case highlights the Biden administration’s attempts to balance human rights concerns in the arms sale process.

Foreign Policy had reported in July that the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee delayed the sale amid concerns Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was drifting toward authoritarianism. The country is facing multiple security challenges, including terrorism.

“Nigeria requires a fundamental rethink of the framework of our overall engagement,” committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J., told Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the diplomat’s testimony before the panel last year.

Menendez also tweeted that “the Nigerian government must get serious about security” after the militant group Boko Haram kidnapped more than 300 schoolboys in December 2020. The Nigerian government also ran afoul of the New Jersey Democrat in 2019 after arresting one of his constituents, Nigerian-American journalist Omoyele Sowore.

According to the announcement, $25m in the package will be dedicated to “institutional and technical assistance” to Nigeria’s military to continue its Air-to-Ground Integration program, which concerns targeting processes that are consistent with international humanitarian law and the laws of armed conflict.

“The proposed sale will better equip Nigeria to contribute to shared security objectives, promote regional stability and build interoperability with the U.S. and other Western partners,” the announcement read.

“This sale will be a major contribution to US and Nigerian security goals,” it added

The development appears to open a new chapter in US-Nigeria relations.

The United States had last May said there was no plan to relocate its Africa Command from its current base in Germany to Nigeria or any other part of Africa despite the worsening state of insecurity in the region.

The US gave the response barely two weeks after the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), appealed to the US government to consider relocating AFRICOM to Africa to assist Nigeria and other adjoining countries to combat worsening terrorism, banditry and other security crises.

The President made the plea in a virtual meeting with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on April 27, 2021

Germany-based Africa Command (AFRICOM) is the US military headquarters that oversees its operations in Africa.

Buhari’s request followed a series of recent military casualties in Nigeria’s decade-long fight against Boko Haram terrorists, fresh expansion of the insurgents’ bases to Niger and Nasarawa States, and heavy waves of abductions and killings by bandits in the North.

Buhari had said, “In this connection, and considering the growing security challenges in West and Central Africa, Gulf of Guinea, Lake Chad region and the Sahel, weighing heavily on Africa, it underscores the need for the United States to consider relocating AFRICOM headquarters from Stuttgart, Germany to Africa and near the Theatre of Operation.”

However, the US government later ruled out any plan to relocate AFRICOM from its current base in Germany to Nigeria or any part of Africa.

According to the United States Department of Defence’ Pentagon, previous studies have shown that the cost of relocating AFRICOM from Germany to Africa is very huge.

Meanwhile, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), will on Tuesday meet the service chiefs over the rising spate of insecurity in the country.

The Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru, disclosed this on Thursday, while briefing journalists after the Council of State meeting in Abuja.

According to the governor, the proposed meeting is sequel to the recommendations by the council over the security challenge in the country.

But the Peoples Democratic Party described the All Progressives Congress as a failure over its inability to tackle the insecurity rocking the nation, stressing that Nigerians are waiting eagerly for 2023 to vote them out of power.

The party accused the government of always passing the buck, describing it as incompetent.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has faulted the arrangement for a consensus Presidential candidate in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Wike described the consensus arrangement as rubbish and fake news used in deceiving PDP members.

Speaking with PDP delegates and members in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, on Wednesday, the Presidential aspirant said consensus could only happen through equity, justice, and fairness.

He recalled telling a former Senate President that he would not support a consensus arraignment in PDP.

According to Wike: “I am not here for any consensus rubbish. I have told people not to deceive our party members with fake news about consensus. We all believe in consensus, but it must come with equity, justice, and fairness.

“When some of my colleagues led by the former Senate President came to me, I told them I would not fall into the consensus trap. If you want to run for election, please run, and if you are not ready, please go home.

“They want somebody who would come and bow down for them. But what the country needs now is fearless and courageous somebody.”

The likes of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar and some other aspirants have been clamouring for a consensus Presidential candidate for the PDP.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance has said that the Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, will not succumb to criminal elements working hard to blackmail and derail efforts at curtailing insecurity in the state.

The party said no matter what the criminal elements are doing, it stands by the governor’s decision to end the Monday sit-at-home in Anambra and “it cannot be changed”.

Addressing journalists in Awka, on Sunday, the National Coordinator, APGA Media Warriors Forum, Chinedu Obigwe, noted that the State Government had given the criminals, hiding under the guise of enforcing the already cancelled IPOB sit-at-home order enough time to repent.

Obigwe pointed out that the hoodlums terrorising the state are the Simon Ekpa’s faction of IPOB who are “labouring very hard to use their acts of terrorism to intimidate the governor and to also instil fear in the minds of ndi Anambra”.

He said for the avoidance of doubt, IPOB had cancelled the Monday sit-at-home order even before the emergence of Soludo as the governor of the state.

The party urged the people of the state to commence full activities on Mondays as directed by the governor without any fear of intimidation by the hoodlums.

He said, “This coming Monday is a day all activities are expected to commence with full force in Anambra State and we need to adhere to the governor’s directive by going to work, school and markets on that day.

"Soludo is a fearless lion that cannot be cowed nor intimidated by criminals that earn a living from insecurity. All they are doing is a waste of time because the governor is not someone that can be frightened, cowed or intimidated.

His decision to end the every Monday sit-at-home in the state stands and cannot be changed. What we like about Soludo is his approach and strong will to turn impossibility into possibility.

"He did not mince words in saying that he will discuss the good, the bad and the ugly but that he will do everything humanly possible to actualise his dream of turning Anambra into a liveable and prosperous homeland.

While calling on the people of Anambra to support the governor’s transformation agenda for the growth of the state, the party said the state’s dying economy must be resuscitated by stopping the criminals enforcing the illegal sit-at-home.

When Soludo assumed office, he realised that the every Monday sit-at-home order is killing Anambra economy and also destroying the future of our children hence the reason he decided to collaborate with the authentic leadership of IPOB to go after the criminals that are still enforcing the already cancelled order.

"Investigation proved beyond every reasonable doubt that one Finland-based Simon Ekpa is the leader of the criminal gang terrorising Anambra and the whole Igbo land in the guise of enforcing every Monday sit-at-home order.

“Ekpa has resorted to blackmailing Soludo and the authentic leadership of IPOB but shame awaits him because the governor is not ready to back out of his decision to restore the economy of the South-East, being destroyed by criminals in the guise of enforcing non-existent order. The most annoying part is that this Ekpa is not based in Nigeria.

"He also dumped Nnamdi Kanu and said openly that his faction of IPOB will no longer take directives from him.
“But the governor had gone as far as offering them amnesty and calling on them to drop their guns and embrace a better way of earning a living. He recently revealed that the criminals terrorising Anambra that were arrested by law enforcement agents are not from Anambra State and I believe that they must be from Simon Ekpa’s home state.

"Ndi Anambra, we must join hands with Soludo to resist these criminals that want to hold our state economy to ransom. On April 4, last week, the every Monday sit-at-home was put to an end with prayers in all the churches in Anambra. Anambra is our only state and we must restore the lost glory of our state by resuscitating our dying state economy.

ChoCho54:
That's the same thing Tinubu is taking yet he's your god.

ChoCho54:
Python that's dropping like chicken shiit when they see ragtag bandits Lol

ChoCho54:


Omo iyadagbe . E pain am.

ChoCho54:
That's is Agege Lagos there.
Have you ever ventured out of your father's hut in mushin?

Asunta!

ChoCho54:




Do you have STD

Get proper help because this agbo you are drinking inside nylon every morning won't help

ChoCho54:
Igbo develop Nigeria, yorubas mine skulls of Nigerians

ChoCho54:
. This one you are holding your tummy.

Berra go get yourself checked for STD.

ChoCho54:
Direct your misfortune to the zombie I quoted. Asinwin!

ChoCho54:
But tinubu your God is an mkpurumiri addict and courier too.

Odin13:


Na your people naaa.. Yoruba . You know propagandist.. when dey drop their shit .

Mooh247:



Morally bankrupt Mkpuru Mniri region

Such an achievement and Landmark to celebrate



.

Odin13:
Gibberish from another Yoruba human being

Their Tinubu campaign not selling even after the Omisore award

Guess they’ve resume their igbo hatred and bitterness song

Who blame them..

Why not give update and source .. of you story

Abi

The slap Sheriff Gave Tinubu is still resounding to all his worshippers and urchins

Nairaland stories

Wazobia2216:

In a nutshell, what should we do about this your ranting now?

Better still update us with the news of Abba Kyari

Since you are jobless tell us about the drunkard nature before telling us of the violent nature of someone who stood to defend herself!

Nonsense and paid op

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has described some recent utterances of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on burning national issues as worrisome and tyrannical.


The group in a statement by its Secretary-General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro said such disposition would likely destroy Wike’s political career.

He said the Governor was behaving like Idi Amin of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

While accusing Wike of openly claiming responsibility for the recent judgement against Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Ohanaeze said “we are reviewing the legal implications of
Governor Wike’s vexatious outbursts over the Abuja Federal High Court judgement that sacked Ebonyi Governor, the Deputy Governor, and the House of Assembly members.”


Ohanaeze claimed that “this is a confirmation that there is a grand hooligan operation to destabilize the Southeast, which is unfortunately, coming from a man who denied his Igbo identity”.

Isiguzoro added that, “the massacre of Igbos in Obigbo (Oyibo) in Rivers State is still fresh in our minds.

“The sponsors of the grand scheme and conspiracy to remove the Ebonyi Governor remains a subversive and provocative invasion aimed at distracting the South-East from the 2023 presidential election.

“For how long will Wike realize that he should be a shining light of the PDP and the Niger Delta rather than picking up fights on all fronts?

Ndigbo will forgive Governor Wike if he retreats and apologizes to Umahi, but disastrous consequences await him if he continues in these futile expeditions.”