No fewer than 50 accounts operated by influencers have been engaged to promote Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, on social media, FIJ can report.

Since taking up a ministerial role in the government of President Bola Tinubu in August 2023, Tunji-Ojo has made frequent appearances in the media, discussing his efforts to ease international passport registration and collection for Nigerians.

His public image in the media remained spotless until a contract scandal involving a company he personally founded became public knowledge in the first week of January.

Evidence emerged on January 7 that Tunji-Ojo’s New Planet Project Limited obtained a consultancy project from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, then headed by the troubled suspended minister Betta Edu. The scandal left him dusting his files to find a Corporate Affairs Commission’s (CAC) filing showing that he had resigned his directorship from the company since 2019, but the CAC did not reflect the change on its public portal. Nevertheless, he remains a shareholder in the organisation.

The discovery prompted calls for his suspension and investigation just like Edu, but these calls were swiftly countered by an army of social media influencers and some self-acclaimed civil society groups with no digital footprints until the scandal.

FIJ’s findings have now shown that Tunji-Ojo runs a well-oiled social media campaign, particularly on X, executed by a supervised network of hired influencers.

MODE OF OPERATION

Their operational mode is consistent with established social media coordinated campaign trends. Unlike what many might believe, most of the posts about the minister are not from spontaneous or self-motivated X users. In understanding how they work, FIJ looked at the timing and semantics of the posts, and the general behaviour of the accounts.

FIJ observed that once Tunji-Ojo posted, these influencers took it up and crafted their own contents around the subject, quoting his statements as they deemed fit or as determined in their central operation chambers.

As hired influence operators, they reposted and quoted tweets by the minister. They also curated their own content as a strategy to increase the likelihood of a greater reach — the higher the visibility, the more the strength of dominance the minister enjoyed on the platform.

Hashtags are central to influence operations. At least five hashtags — #RenewedHope, #NewDawnWithBTO, #RenewedHope, #NewDawnWithBTO, #SpotLightOnBTO and #BTO4RenewedHope — have been created and associated with the minister. These hashtags are mentioned in their posts to provide a metric for discoverability and monitor their effectiveness, and keep a tab on the trend of their paymaster’s activities.

Although #NewDawnWithBTO was created in 2023, it only became frequent on X after the scandal, which also coincided with the launch of an online passport application system by the minister. Between January 8 and 20, it appeared in more than 430 posts.

FIJ did not reckon with several other accounts that post about the minister without any of the hashtags mentioned above. This is because those accounts might have been his mere admirers with no material motivation.

FINANCIAL COST
Evidently, some of these persons are not mere party supporters or the ministers admirers, but influencers who amplify information not for ideological reasons but for pecuniary gains, regardless of information credibility. Some influencers such as @lollylarry1, @jarmari01, @_chiefagbabiaka, @olaniranfaith, @abasisom and @samzyVG, most of whom used false identities, declared in their bios to be career influencers.

FIJ’s findings, however, showed that @lollylarry1 is a key figure handling the network. Members of the network exist in two broad categories: paid and unpaid. FIJ learned from a source that she was asking some X users, unaware she had been contracted to promote the minister, to help her post the minister’s activities on X.

A peep into her account further showed that she was involved in anti-EndSARS campaign by the government. She was also once involved in a social media campaign for Arora Akanksha, a young woman who aspired to become the United Nations’ Secretary-General in 2021.

Apart from that, some of the accounts have X verification badges. It also appears some influencers have more than one account for promotional purposes. Out of the 50 accounts, 22 have at least 1,000 followers, the highest being 154.6 thousand followers. Their moderate followings indicate they are mostly minor influencers.

For this reason, the size of each influencer’s followers determines how much they get. According to an article by OG Capital Finance, a micro-business financing firm, an average minor influencer earns between N30,000 and N60,000 per campaign or depending on the period of activity. This helps to understand how much goes into the minister’s influencing campaign alone monthly. This is aside his statutory media aides remuneration.

However, the minister might not be aware of this network or be responsible for remunerating them directly, according to Rosemary Ajayi, the founder of Digital Africa Research Lab and a researcher who has experience exploring the weaponisation of social media in Nigeria.

Ajayi told FIJ: “In Nigeria, there is a huge marketplace for dodgy social media ‘influencers’. However, one cannot conclusively state that this group of accounts identified by FIJ have been paid to promote Tunji-Ojo without further investigation.

“A quick analysis of many of the accounts shows them to be supporters of the ruling party predating Tunji-Ojo’s ministerial appointment. And in a situation where there is evidence to show that participants have been paid, it is possible that the perceived beneficiary is completely unaware of such campaign as it may have been sponsored by associates or aides hoping to curry his favour.”

Interestingly, Tunji-Ojo has a record of maintaining extravagant political operations. As a lawmaker that represented the Akoko North East/North West Federal Constituency from 2019 to 2023, he appointed over 220 individuals as special advisers, special assistants and personal assistants in one swoop.

So police officers came to my place this morning & handcuffed me saying I was under arrest (for a crime they wouldn’t tell me about).

After searching through all my rooms for whatever evidence they could find, then proceeding to search through my phones, laptops etc (at this point already figured what this was about).

Asked me what I do for a living, told them I build apps & mobile games, you could clearly see over a dozen of them installed on my phones, and dozens more on app stores.
Even just putting on my laptop right there on the screen was a mobile app I was developing.

Threatened that if they take me to the station the forensics would find anything implicating on my devices, even the ones I’ve deleted.

Told them unless they want to plant something on me, they wouldn’t see even as little as me charging someone an extra N100 for something not to talk of scamming.

Long story short, after looking through all my chats they figured I was clean, they then told me I should just be careful..

Apparently a neighbor of mine gave a “tip” to the police that they suspected I was into fraud. Cause they always see me at home and I seem to be doing so well.

Lol.

Funny cause I don’t even relate with a single neighbor in the estate

The only regret I have is not getting that officers contact, I really want to know who that neighbor is.

God Abeg,

Thank God you didn’t remember to get the details too, cos emotions can overrule and you would want to get back to the person.
I’ve been labeled a fraud person too cos I was running gen constantly last year when there was power outage and the neighbor was not revealed

Of course, I have to tell you all what happened this morning.

It was indeed traumatizing but as someone who is already familiar with police harassment, this ordeal didn't catch me by surprise.

Nigeria really prepares you for the worst but this is definitely not how to live. 💔

So, this morning, I was stepping out of my house.

I was actually at the main gate. I was about to open the gate when I saw that someone was outside. He greeted me and I responded.

Then he said, "I am a NEPA official."

I'm like, "Ok, how may I help you?"

He said they came to check our electricity meters which is quite usual.

Based on street OT, I asked for his ID, and he said he doesn't have it. I insisted, so he started calling his colleagues to bring his ID.[sup][/sup]

What happened next shocked me to my bones.

This fucking guy OPENED MY GATE FROM OUTSIDE!!!

Like how I kid you not. He opened the gate. If you know how jam lock works, you will know that if you don't have the key, you can't gain access.

This guy opened my gate effortlessly before I could even ID him. Christ!!!

Now, they had access, so there was little I could do.

When he entered, like 10 men came in with him. Bro, none of them was on Police uniform except for one of them who was carrying an AK-47.

I was like "Fuccccccccck, kidnappers ti wole..." 😭😭😭

Next thing, he blurted out, "This is the Police..."

I quickly comported myself and requested for ID. He didn't have an ID but some other guy brought out a washed-up ID that was not even legible.

Then they ordered me to open my apartment.

I refused. That is where problem began!

They kept insisting that I must give them access to my apartment but I insisted on know why they want access to my apartment.

They told me they wanted to search my house, and I requested a search warrant.

They brought out a piece of paper and waved it in my face.

I told them to hand it over so that I could read it properly. They said they couldn't give me for security reasons.

So, I said "If you won't give me the warrant to read, I will not give you access to my apartment.

So, one of them went to my door and tried to forcefully open it.

Unfortunately for him, he could not force the door open.

You won't believe what happened next. These guys brought out the warrant and it was there and then they wrote my address on the warrant.

Apparently, the warrant was blank without an address or a specific name.

This basically means that they came to my house with a signed warrant that didn't carry my name or address. Ahhhh!

The guy who tried to force my door open, then came back and tried to get my house key off me. That was when I started struggling with him.

We dragged each other.

As e de drag my shorts, I de drag am back.

He wanted to remove my house key from my pocket by force, but emi gaan stubborn.

You'll have to kill me first before you have access to my home illegally. Fortunately, he was not able to get my key because I stood my ground.

Few seconds after that, the officer that led the squad ordered him to leave me.

He obeyed and the leader took me to one corner and started giving me lectures on how wrong it is for me to resist a police officer.

Emi? As e de enter my right ear, e de commot for the left one.

I insisted that I must read the warrant properly before anything else.

So, he asked them to give me the warrant so that I could read it to my satisfaction.

I said, "Now, you're talking..."

They didn't give it to me tho but they held it while I read it.

While I was reading, they had already ransacked my neighbors' apartments.

Apparently, I was the only one "trying to prove stubborn".

So, after reading the warrant, I opened my apartment for them to search but of course, I allowed only one of them to enter.

The person I allowed entered my apartment and started turning my whole house upside down. They went everywhere in my house, even my trash can. They turned the trash out and said something about "forensic investigation". 😂🤣

Omo, he checked everywhere while I watched.

After about 30 minutes of searching, nothing was incriminating to see.

So, I asked them to leave. Now, this is the unbelievable part.

They asked me to change my clothes and I asked them for what? They said I must go to the station. Ahannnn

Go to the station for what

Them: We're not convinced that you're not a criminal.

Then I asked them what prompted this harassment in the first place.

These were their words:

"We were informed that some young people live in this house and you all don't go to work. You stay indoors always. So we suspect that you all are criminals."

Ahhhhhhh!

So, I asked them if they'd never heard of remote work or work-from-home before.

They said, "When you get to the station, you will explain what remote work is..."

See me, see wahala o!

I stood my ground and told them I was not going anywhere until they told me my offense.

All these while, my dogs were barking aggressively as they heard my voice while I was arguing.

So, they went around the house and the only police officer who was wearing a uniform and carrying an AK-47 cocked his rifle and aimed for one of my dogs.

Na there I craze finish.

I told him, "If you shoot my dog, that will be your last shot, I swear it with my life..."

I insisted that I won't go with them but when I saw that they had already packed my neighbors into their vehicles, apa mi jabo. 😭😭😭

My neighbors need to do better. Awon omo ase. 🤣

People on my street mediated and asked me to go with them, and because my neighbors had already succumbed, I got into their vehicle.

They drove us to Phase 4 police station in Kubwa and they started interrogating us. Asking stupid questions and lying, of course.

They took my neighbor's phones and laptops. They went through them.

I refused to hand them my phone but everything they requested for, I showed them. There was really nothing to see.

They wanted to check my bank apps and picture gallery, but I refused vehemently.

These guys were asking me how much my salary was. Asking me how I get paid monthly. Asking me what currency I get paid in, because they saw a lot of African Union documents in my house.

They made me show them my Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn accounts.

They requested to see my photo gallery and bank apps but I refused.

It was when they saw "Gbajabiamila" consistently on my accounts, that they decided to back down.

They equally harassed my neighbors too. In fact, they packed all the young tenants in the house.

While in the house, they tried to force my car open with a remote controller (I don't know where they brought that from).

They kept pressing the remote to unlock my car but the car didn't respond.

Can you imagine this level of unprofessionalism? Man!!!

From the information available, Phase 4 Police Command in Kubwa is a haven of rogues from top to bottom.

They promised me that they'll be back and I know that they'll be back. I full ground ooo but
@PoliceNG @PoliceNG_CRU @FCT_PoliceNG, please take note.

I am back home now after hours of trauma in the hands of @PoliceNG.

This is what young Nigerians go through every day. This is not the first and I believe it won't be the last.

Bottom line is, we cannot continue to live like this. This should not be a way of life at all.

You can't be a young man, living by yourself, trying to make a way out of this huge mess of a country without those saddled with the responsibility of protecting you and maintaining law and order, being the main source of harassment and extortion.

Absolute madness!!!

When my friends call me, the most consistent question is, "Demola, what are you still doing in that country?"

That question is really heartbreaking. You may not realize it but it is a very heartbreaking question.

What am I doing in my own country? Ahhhh, this is sad!

Tiwatope Omolara Savage (born 5 February 1980), known professionally as Tiwa Savage, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and actress who has been called the Queen of Afrobeats. Savage sings in English and Yoruba; her music is a blend of afrobeats, R&B, afropop, pop and hip-hop. Savage's contributions to the Nigerian music industry have earned her several achievements.

Born in Isale Eko, she relocated to London at the age of 11 for her secondary education. Five years later, she began her music career doing backup vocals for artists such as George Michael and Mary J. Blige. After participating in the UK edition of The X Factor and graduating from Berklee College of Music, Savage signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2009.

Inspired by the growth of the Nigerian music industry, Savage moved back to Nigeria and signed with Mavin Records in 2012. She made an appearance on the label's 2012 compilation album Solar Plexus.

STATE HOUSE PRESS STATEMENT

ATIKU ABUBAKAR AND HIS NEW HOBBY

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has certainly found a new hobby to keep himself busy, having failed to achieve his lifelong ambition of becoming the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is increasingly carving for himself the role of opposition-in-chief to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his government.

However, we notice that the former Vice-President, just like in his political contests, is also doing a poor job of it, offering pedestrian and uninformed interventions on our economy and other matters of public concerns.

Atiku's latest diatribe was another uncharitable commentary on the state of the economy and the efforts of the President Bola Tinubu administration in remoulding it for sustained prosperity.

Nigerians can easily see through the hypocrisy of Alhaji Atiku, who in accusing President Tinubu of poor response to the nation's challenges and causing pains and despair, didn't offer any better policy options in his run for the Presidency different from the economic reform agenda being pursued by President Tinubu.

All the major candidates agreed that the fuel subsidy regime, which had become an albatross on the economy, must end. They all agreed that the multiple exchange rates must be fixed. Where President Tinubu and Atiku differed was in selling NNPC Limited and other national assets. Atiku went for this so he could sell these important national assets to his friends and cronies.

President Tinubu removed the subsidy from Day One and announced moves to harmonise the exchange rates. Since then, he and his economic team have been working vigorously to harmonise the rates and also end the rampant and criminal arbitrage that the multiple windows allowed.

President Tinubu acknowledged, on different occasions, that the reforms his government is implementing will cause immediate pains, but will usher in an era of prosperity in the medium and long terms.

Minus Atiku, reputable local and international agencies who understand the situation the Tinubu administration found itself have commended the administration, having seen a policy trajectory that is clearly positive, realistic and sustainable.

Atiku’s claims that the private sector is shrinking and that multinational companies are leaving our companies in ‘droves’ are not grounded on facts.

His claim that the government's policies have created intense cost of living pressures are also not grounded on facts as recent comparative cost of living indices show that Nigerians still enjoy the lowest cost of living in Africa.

Instead of mouthing platitudes every time in a bid to earn cheap political mileage, Alhaji Atiku who presumes himself as the leader of opposition should tell Nigerians what he would have done better if he had been elected President.

Atiku should be honest enough to admit that President Tinubu inherited a weak economy, which to all intents and purposes and to ensure the survival of our country needs a complete overhaul.

The economy was plagued by decades of significant fiscal deficits, a low revenue base, high external and domestic debts, and huge debt service burden.

The national budget Tinubu met in 2023 showed that 97 percent of revenue was to be spent on debt servicing, with little reserved for capital, thereby foreclosing growth and jobs.

Confronted with this grim economic reality, President Tinubu faced a difficult choice of balancing the political and economic costs of reforms against the risks of economic recession. His government chose the former, to keep the economy afloat and set it back on the path of growth and prosperity.

President Tinubu is focused on solving our economic and security challenges. The fiscal and monetary policies his administration is pursuing are delivering unprecedented value to investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Nigerian Stock Exchange is outperforming others in the world and is now the best, not based on bubble, but record profits by many listed companies.

The administration has also embarked on comprehensive fiscal and tax policy reform that will drive speedy recovery and spur economic growth.

Nigerians and the global investment communities trust the ability and competence of President Tinubu to deliver progress and shared prosperity.

While President Tinubu and his able team are working very hard to make our country better, ensure our economy is stronger and more competitive, Atiku Abubakar and his cohorts may continue to bellyache.

However, they cannot stop the serious work of nation-building already set in motion by President Tinubu.

Supremos:
wow, senior man, you're here. God bless you 🙏.

Court Jails Actress Six Months for Spraying, Stepping on New Naira Notes

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Thursday, February 1, 2024, convicted and sentenced one Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, an actress, to six months imprisonment for spraying and stepping on the new Naira notes at a social event in Lagos.

She was first arraigned on February 13, 2023 by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on two-count charges, to which she pleaded “not guilty”.

She was subsequently granted bail on February 15, 2023.

One of the court reads: “That you, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, on the 28th day of January, 2023, at Monarch Event Centre, Lekki, Lagos , within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst dancing during a social occasion tampered with the sum of N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same in the said occasion and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”

At the resumed hearing on Thursday, Omoseyin, however, changed her “not guilty” plea to “guilty”, in view of the overwhelming evidence against her.

Following her “guilty plea”, the prosecution counsel, Z.B. Atiku called Abubakar Mohammed Marafa, an operative of the EFCC, to review the facts of the matter.

Marafa recalled that, “the defendant was arrested by officers of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, on February 1, 2023, and was handed over to the Commission on February 2, 2023 for further investigation".

According to him, the defendant’s statement was taken under caution, where she stated that she attended a friend’s wedding on January 28, 2023, and that she sprayed N200 and N100 Naira notes on the occasion.

“The defendant was processed and the videos of where she sprayed the money was found on her phone. Also, further investigations were carried out and the management of the event centre was invited. They also brought in the video footage of the said event.”

The prosecution counsel, thereafter, further applied to tender, in evidence, the letter from the ICPC and other accompanying documents , including the extra-judicial statement of the defendant, forensic report of her phone, a CD of videos showing her spraying the naira note, a flash drive from the event centre together with the statement of the representative of the centre.

Justice Aneke admitted them as exhibits and convicted the defendant, as charged. The defence counsel, Afuye Adegbola pleaded for leniency, saying, “ she’s a first-time offender; she is a mother of one; she is remorseful and pleads for mercy.”

He further pleaded for a non-custodial sentence on behalf of the convict.

Delivering judgment, Justice Aneke sentenced the defendant to six months imprisonment, effective from Thursday, with an option of N300,000 ( Three Hundred Thousand Naira only) fine to be paid into the consolidated revenue account of the federation.

Omoseyin bagged her imprisonment when she was arrested by operatives of the ICPC along Awolowo Road , Ikoyi, Lagos, after the video of her spraying and stepping on the newly redesigned Naira notes at a party surfaced online. In the viral video, she was also seen flaunting wads of the new Naira notes. In her statement to the Commission, she claimed that she received the new Naira notes from her fans at the party and that she did not know the persons who gave her the money.

Items recovered from her at the point of arrest include a Range Rover.

Sacked 1,500 OAU Teaching Hospital Staff Stage Protest

One thousand five hundred staff at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC) stormed the hospital on Thursday in protest against their sack by the management of the hospital.

The employees were on Wednesday asked to desist from coming to work.

The enraged workers lamented that they were laid off after working for months without pay.

The management of the teaching hospital employed the workers in 2022. However, the Federal Government said that the management and some workers were involved in job racketeering, leading to their sack.

Angered by the development, the affected workers besieged the hospital’s main gate on Thursday, chanting solidarity songs to express their grievances, asking the management to rescind its decision.

The main gate of the hospital was shut, and workers were not allowed entry. Also, services were disrupted by the protest.

The management of the hospital has yet to react to the development. Efforts to get the spokesperson to comment on it failed as she did not respond to several telephone calls put to her.

N29,900,000 POLICE ROBBERY IN ABUJA

#UPDATE ON N30,300,000 IGP STS EXTORTION.

After this issue is resolved, I will personally send appreciation to @Princemoye1, FCT spokesperson @Jossy_Dannyking and all police PRO’s nationwide. We all need to be closer to them as their office is heading the PUBLIC COMPLAINT BUREAU where citizens are to report misconduct of police officers.

You will recall that two days ago, the Force Public Relations Officer made a post assuring Nigerians that Justice must be served in the case of N30,300,000 criminal extortion by its men.

This is to inform you all that @Princemoye1 is keeping to his words and ensuring that the culprits are brought to book.

Currently, one of the police officer involved has been arrested and in detention, the remaining four are currently missing.

The Monie Point POS operator who received the sum of N22,000,000 has also been arrested and in custody. She’s an accomplice.

The access Bank account holder who received the sum of N8,300,000 is yet to be arrested.

While we continue to condemn officers misconduct, we must not fail to appreciate effort of @Princemoye1 and the @PoliceNG headed by IGP on this case and other cases that get to their attention.

PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO FOLLOW UP ON THIS CASE.

Harrison Gwamnishu
Human Rights Office

DISTURBING NEWS FROM EKITI STATE

Black Tuesday in EKITI as 2 Monarchs, Elesun of Esun Ekiti & Olumojo of Imojo Ekiti reportedly killed by Armed Bandits along OkeAko-Ipao Road

Also, School Children were reportedly Kidnapped in Eporo Ekiti, Emure LGA as bandits ambush school bus.

Police tactical unit conducted successful rescue operation in Katsina State, rescues 34 abducted individuals in Nagulle village, Batsari LGA. 👍🏾

The Supreme Court ruling that validated the election of many state governors recently may have come and gone, but the ripple effects go on in various parts of the country.

Of particular interest is the confirmation of Mr. Caleb Mutfwang as the elected governor of Plateau State. Mutfwang’s election victory was quashed by the Court of Appeal (CA) even though the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Jos upheld his election.

The CA hinged its decision to sack Mutfwang and members of the National Assembly and Plateau State House of Assembly on the primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that sponsored them.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court upheld the election of Mutfwang as the duly elected governor of Plateau State. The apex court came hard on the justices of the CA for perverting the cause of justice and even going into what it called pre-election matter where they have no jurisdiction, adding that there was ample evidence that the appellant did not disobey any court order.

One man directly affected by the miscarriage of justice by the CA and who is very happy with the decision of the Supreme Court is Senator Napoleon Bali who represented Plateau South from July to October 2023 before he was sacked by the CA.

With the Supreme Court judgment that upheld the election of Governor Mutfwang of the PDP, who was sacked by the CA for reasons bothering on his nomination, hope rises for former Senators Napoleon Bali, Simon Mwadkwon, members of the House of Representatives and 16 members of the Plateau State House of Assembly sacked for the same reasons by the CA.

Senator Napoleon Bali, speaking with Sunday Times on the issue said their legal team is weighing various options including going back to the court to explore any window to remedy the injustice done to them or live with it for the next three years and the option of recalling those brought to office by the CA judgment.

Bali said although he has not gone to his Plateau South senatorial district recently, he has it on good authority that the constituents are collecting signatures to recall Senator Simon Bako Lalong, the immediate past Minister of Labour and Employment.

Lalong was the governor of Plateau State from 2015 to 2023, contested for Plateau South senatorial seat on the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), but lost woefully to Bali of the PDP. He was the Director General of Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign Organisation.

President Bola Tinubu appointed Lalong as the Minister of Labour and Employment before the CA sacked Napoleon Bali and declared him as the duly elected senator representing Plateau South. He was sworn in as senator on December 20, 2023.

However, available information to Sunday Times shows that the days of Lalong in the Senate may be numbered as plans are in advanced stage by his constituents in Plateau South to recall him.

Senator Napoleon Bali said defeated former governor Lalong, the person the CA gave judgment, with over 57,000 votes because he is not popular.

“The Plateau people gave him mandate for 8 years. Let him tell the people what he did. I defeated him even in his place, Ajikamai, ward and local government. So, how would such a person stand on the floor of the red chamber and say I am Senator Simon Bako Lalong representing the good people of Plateau South? Representing who, one local government? He won only Wase out of the 6 local governments.

I’m going into specifics now. I defeated him in Langtan North, Langtan South, Mikang, his own local government, Shendam and Qua’anpan local governments squarely.

What the people of Plateau South senatorial district are saying ii that they will not allow him. I don’t know what they want to do, but I was told reliably that people are already gathering signatures that they must recall him. This time around we are going to test INEC and the judiciary that installed him again because that is the option we are sure of.

“Like I said, our lawyers are making all efforts to see whether there is a window. I’m not a lawyer; I don’t know how they are going to do it, but the one I’m very sure is that all those the CA collected our mandates wrongfully as concluded by the justices of the Supreme Court, we are definitely going to recall them. When? I will not tell you because it will just come to them as a rude shock.

“For the specific, I can tell you that in Plateau South, I know that they have gathered over 300,000 signatures to recall Lalong already. That is already in the public domain. He is aware, his party the APC is aware. By the time we get the required signature, i.e. 50 per cent of the total registered voters, we have the INEC current register; I will not tell you because we keep that one close to our chest.

“As soon as we get the 50 per cent, we are going to write a petition and our lawyers will follow up from there to tell INEC to verify. Once that is done, INEC will have no option but to conduct a referendum and we take it up from there.

It will be recalled that Senator Napoleon Bali represented Plateau South from June 2023 to October 2023 before the Court of Appeal sacked him, his colleague from Plateau North, Senator Simon Mwadkwon and 16 members of the Plateau State House of Assembly elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP].

However, with the judgment of the Supreme Court, which reinstated the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, who was initially sacked by the same Court of Appeal on the same ground that was used to sack the legislators, hope has risen for the legislators whose sack was seriously condemned by the apex court as illegal.

In a telephone interview, Senator Bali felt satisfied with the Supreme Court judgment he said there is a difference between the law and the people interpreting it.

“The issues that they used to invalidate my election, we knew quite well, even if you are not a lawyer, you should predict that, if you must tell the truth, which is justice, we anticipated it. As a lay man we thought that the Supreme Court would toe the line of the tribunal, [my own panel] and the Court of Appeal.

He said there were three panels in Plateau State, two of the panels looked at the law and then looked at the Supreme Court judgments in the past as regards nomination, sponsorship and qualification. The Supreme Court has ruled many times that is the internal affair of any political party registered in Nigeria. All these our lawyers canvassed and two out of the three panels agreed with that position and that was why they ruled in favour of the PDP, but for whatever reason, panel one headed by Justice Tukur felt otherwise. They said it was both pre-election and post-election. They said it was a post-election because we disobeyed a court order, so, in that case I cannot be an internal affair of the party.

“Our lawyers proved to the tribunal that we did not disobey court order. Justice Gyang said we should do a repeat congress which we did. I retired as Air Vice Marshall in the Nigerian Air Force and declared my interest to run for senate in August 2021 and that repeated congress took place on September 25, 2021. That was my first task for the PDP because I brought all the delegates from the southern senatorial zone of Plateau State.

Our lawyers presented the fact that this repeated congress was done. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Department of State Service (DSS) reported that the congress was done, yet the tribunal judges of only panel one led by Justice Tukur said no, that even the ‘purported’ congress only five out of 17 local governments took part. That was a big lie. What happened was that 12 LGAs, 5 of their Excos had issues in the court. 5 times 12 is 60.

But for whatever reason, the justices ignored it and said 12 LGAs did not take part. It’s a big lie; the facts are there to investigate. What happened was that because of the way the congresses were conducted, both the ward and LG, some people felt aggrieved along the line, others withdrew their cases and it was settled politically, but as ata the time we held the repeated congresses in obedience to Justice Gyang Court Order, 12 LGs were having issues with only 5 Excos (5 in each LG).

In PDP we have 18 Exco members in each LG, but for whatever reason he chairman, vice chairman, secretary, women and youth leader had cases in court. PDP national Exco that supervised the congress, in its wisdom, excluded these 60 people. But where the tribunal told a lie to Nigerians, discrediting the congresses, was that 12 LGs did not participate. It’s not so; it’s only the Excos of the 12 LGs. So, we saw this thing coming.

“For whatever reason, the Appeal Court now toed the line of panel one led by Justice Tukur. Th ough I’m not a lawyer, I knew that the Appeal Court did not get the truth. They were misled. Our lawyers tried their best to say no .. the issue of congress was even out their jurisdiction, but they said they will entertain it.

“We told the Appeal Court that the 17 LGs took part in the re-un congresses, but the court refused to accept it. The panel was lucky that they played the video clip in addition to INEC report at the tribunal stage and that was why Justice Williams, I think a lady accepted that we complied. But the Court of Appeal said no, they toed the line of panel one led by Justice Tukur. We told the Appeal Court that 17 LGs participated in the re-run congresses, only the Excos of 12 did not, but CA refused to accept all our evidence.

“We know that the National and State Assembly, the final court was the CA. Our lead legal counsel, Barrister Damian Dodo (SAN) urged the CA to look at the issue well because if you said it was post-election we obeyed, you discredited the congresses and called it purported, it is not true.

The man who won has about 1,500 votes and the man who contested with him, Bitrus Kaje, who canvassed for us to go into the repeated congress got 300 votes. The entire congress delegates were supposed to be 2,500 plus. Meanwhile, about 2,000 cast their votes including Bitrus Kaje and he congratulated the winner, Chris Afem, yet the CA said no.

“My own was so pathetic and annoying. I, Senator, AVM (rtd) Napoleon Bali; at the CA Justice Abang said I contested as an independent candidate. I wish Abang was not even a lawyer or he contested election to see how annoying that can be. Other justices said you didn’t qualify, which is the normal legal term, I bought a form, sponsored by PDP and then a justice of CA, only him in his judgment said I contested 2023 election as independent candidate and that was why the was annulling my election because our laws do not recognize independent candidate. You see that my lord, with due respect erred completely because I bought form under PDP. It’s like instead of beating somebody on the buttock, you beat him on the face and eyes to blind him. Some of us thought, may be the Supreme Court was going to do the same thing. So we went for the hearing and adoption of briefs and behold the 5 justices came very hard on Justice Tukur panel, the tribunal and the CA. it was a clear ignoring clear evidence in order to perverse justice. We don’t know why they did that. That is why Justice “Okoro of the Supreme Court said his anger is that many people have suffered, including myself, as a result of this wrong judgment/ justice Agim, who read the lead judgment said, first of all the tribunal and the CA lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case and even if they decided to entertain the case, that we complied with the court order with available evidence from INEC, DSS. So, they came very hard on them.

“That has brought back my confidence in the judiciary because the justices of the Supreme Court decided to follow the law, the 2022 Electoral Act and the Constitution. Of course, I’m very happy, but the problem is that some of us have been cheated. The justices of the CA and the panel of Justices Tukur should watch, one day they will account to God.”

Bali expressed his happiness with the Supreme Court judgment and prayed that “they should continue like that”. He is also happy with the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) “for giving a free hand”, President Bola Tinubu “for allowing the judiciary to its work” and the justices of the Supreme Court, asking God to bless them for promoting “justice”.

According to him, “justice promotes patriotism”, because he was feeling bad about this country, but since that judgment by the apex court, he has become more patriotic, adding “even when people are not looking at me, I try to do the right thing to ensure Nigeria becomes a better place”.

Tacha Knocks Mummy Zee For Insulting Her

Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) reality TV star, Natacha Akide, popularly known as Tacha, has knocked internet sensation, Mummy Zee, the woman who went viral for waking up by 4:30 am to cook for her husband.

Their feud started when a social media user informed Mummy Zee that Tacha was insulting her on a podcast show.

Reacting to the comment, Mummy Zee wrote, ‘’Person when nor get sense.’

Tacha who came across the comment found it disrespectful and insulted her back.

She wrote, "Take a look at this homeless piece of shit with zero self-esteem. Zombie has zero ability to think for herself at her big age.

“Really hope you use all that community finds you hit from begging to actually send your daughter to a good school. That way she does not turn out this stupid hating on a fellow woman because it is popular to do so or wake up at 4 am to cook rubbish for a long-throat hungry-looking man.

“See it will never be my fault y’all don’t understand “context” and to even think I was praising this fuul on an episode of the Big Friday show is just funny.”

Mama Zee is happily married with a child. You have been wasting around in waywardness.

Your earliest introduction into fame was a semblance of being an IG call girl, hawking your bbs online with a shameless tattoo of Davido plastered in between your boobs.

Not until you became a BB dropout because of the same hadlum attitude, and opened a GOFUNDME to beg, and now you’re on podcasts being so rezz and uncouth. Not one ounce of class! Not one ounce of morality. Not ounce of maturity.

Nothing warranted you bullying a WHOLE family because of your ugly heart. Even if Mummy Zee offended you, why drag her husband and daughter?

I honestly hate witnessing this level of vileness.

Took down my posts about Tasha. The full context of the podcast Tasha was speaking on wasn’t directed at Mummy Zee. But still, her replies to Mumzee was too much. Especially going for her whole family…

Mumzee should even be careful before her passionate fans needlessly set her up against others

Mummy Zee had no business insulting Tacha over small instigation without verifying context. One should never be too quick to speak

Now Tacha has gone off cause obviously e go pain to be addressed like that. I guess we can all see how misunderstanding can cause unnecessary fight

Jman06:
It's a shorter way of writing "I don't"

Offpointng:


My fiancee appear nice but tbh I really can't tell cuz ion ask her for things. so I decided to play a quick test on her to understand her further; but the result further came out confusing. What was this test;

and I was to surprise her with another phone cuz ion like the fact she uses Tecno (tho she isn't complaining sha) she doesn't really bill me to.

Now ion know if I should see her as a wife material or someone I can marry. So, I've come to ask if I'm really overreacting since I didn't really ask her to help me with money. Secondly, was that a wrong test to have done?? I'm confused.

The problem with the Naira today is not that it was or has been “floated”. In any case, we no longer have the oil revenues (for various reasons) to underpin a managed float with robust foreign reserves.

The real failure of Nigerian economic policy is that of having failed to diversify its economy away from reliance of natural resources for forex supply towards an export economy based on value-added manufacturing and services.

This is the zone of industrial and trade policy. The reason for this failure lies in Nigeria’s political culture that fosters a rentier economy.

Habits, especially bad ones, are hard to break. But Malaysia, Thailand and Chile, all originally resource based economies, successfully achieved “economic complexity” over time, manufacturing and exporting increasingly sophisticated products.

For Nigeria to achieve this will require what its present generation of politicians appear to lack, for you cannot give what you do not have. The level of political will required to change course is extraordinary, and requires a focus on merit and competent technocratic management rather than crony- empowerment based on vested self interest.

Until these fundamentals are fixed, there is little hope for the Naira. The world has changed from the days of our being awash with oil money. Many other countries that are not in OPEC now produce massive amounts of oil.

AIG ZONE 4, AIG EBONG EYIBIO, psc (+), mni PRESS BRIEFING ON PLATEAU ATTACKS HELD ON 25TH JANUARY, 2024 HELD AT THE PLATEAU STATE COMMAND HEADQUARTERS, JOS.

Good morning Gentlemen of the press, I have called you this morning to brief you on the unfortunate killings of innocent citizens on the plateau.

The Plateau State Police Command has successfully repelled an attack on villages in Mangu LGA of the State.

On 24/01/24 at about 2200hrs, we received intelligence concerning an attack which was targeted on the Ntam community and the ASTC Company, both of Mangu LGA. Our team of agile Police officers from the IGP Special Intervention Squad stationed at the ASTC in conjunction with the Area Commander Pankshin and the DPO swung into action and thwarted the attempted attack.

In a separate incident, an attempt by some criminal arsonists in Panyam District to set fire on some worship centers was prevented by swift intervention from the police and with help from some elders of the Community.

Also in another development, to further strengthen the existing security architecture in Mangu LGA and ensure compliance with the curfew imposed by the government and prevent further escalation of the incidence which is almost snowboarding into an ethno religious crisis, I have ordered the deployment of additional Special Intervention personnel to Mangu LGA to be commended by the Area Commander, Pankshin, and restore normalcy in that area.

The Command is grateful to inform you that the situation as at today, is under control and so far, Nine (9) suspects have been arrested. Exhibits recovered from them include dangerous weapons, such as machetes, kegs containing Petrol, and other items. The area remains highly secured by security forces and strict compliance to the curfew is being complied with.

In another development, a delegation from the Plateau State Government led by the Security Adviser to the Governor, heads of other security agencies, and leaders from both the Christian and Muslim communities, gathered at the Mangu Township Stadium and the Miskam Mwaghavul Palace in Mangu yesterday, the 24th day of January, 2024 to deliberate and chart a way forward to put a stop to the menace. We called on the leadership of both faiths to call their followers to order and ensure total compliance with the government-imposed curfew. Both parties have promised to comply in the interest of peace in their communities. So far, over 10 corpses have been recovered from various locations, two injured persons currently receiving treatment at the hospital, one car and Ten houses were burnt down.

On behalf of the officers and men of Plateau State Police Command, I want to take this moment to commemorate with the government and good people of Mangu LGA over the loss of lives and properties as a result of these attacks.

I also wish to make it clear that the Command under my leadership and supervision will bear zero tolerance to any act of criminality, and will continue to intensify its efforts towards restoring peace, public confidence and normalcy within the State.

Before you are the eight ( suspects from the December 24th 2023 attack and the nine (9) suspects arrested in connection with the recent attacks in the state.

To this end, we urge the public to remain calm and cooperate with the security agencies as we are working tirelessly to maintain peace and order in the region.

Thank you and God bless you.

A police Divisional Officer has rejected one million naira bribe offered to him by a suspected bandit after his arrest in a hotel in Kaduna Community.

The arrested bandit reportedly offered the bribe out of the ransom recovered from him by the police at a hotel in Tafa community.

According to the Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, on Thursday, the arrest was made on the 19th of January, 2024.

According to him, the divisional headquarters received credible information regarding the presence of the suspected person at Easyway hotel in Tafa town.

He explained that their Operatives led by the Divisional Police Officer stormed the hotel and arrested a certain 28-year-old Bello Muhammad from Zamfara State and recovered the sum of N2,350,000:00, suspected to be proceeds of kidnapping.

He said during the course of the investigation, the suspect admitted to being a kidnapper who operates with his gang around Kagarko forest in Kaduna.

ASP Mansir said the aforementioned sum is the suspect’s own share of a ransom collected, adding that a check of his mobile phone corroborated the suspect’s confession as pictures of him brandishing an AK47 rifle in a forest were retrieved.

“The said suspect Bello Muhammad thus offered a million naira backhander to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to stop him from furthering the investigation, which the Police Officer forthwith rejected. The investigation is still ongoing as the suspect is assisting the Police with vital information,” he said.

The Commissioner of Police Kaduna State Command, CP A.D Ali, while praising the Tafa Division’s Operatives, urged them and others not to dwindle but to increase the tempo until crimes and criminality are reduced minimally.

The CP tasked hoteliers, recreation, and leisure service operators in the State to always scrutinize the identity of their customers to avoid providing criminals with a safe haven.

WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT

(One of the attached photos in this post is graphic, be guided accordingly, please.)

On the request of the family of the Late Abasifreke John Jeremiah (Ab Jerry Jerry), I am publishing the photo of his corpse publicly.

Attached to this post are photographs of the late Abasifreke John Jeremiah, a rising Nigerian wrestler from Akwa Ibom State while he was alive and after he died in questionable circumstances.

The late wrestler went to Bayelsa State on 10th December, 2023 for training preparatory to a wrestling competition.

His family was informed on 28th December, 2023 that he “drowned” on 27th December, 2023 after a boat he was traveling with capsized.

Curiously, the people who reported his death to his family and claimed to have recovered his corpse refused to send a photograph of his body to his family for identification despite repeated demands.

The family eventually obtained the attached photograph of the corpse through an anonymous source which raised fundamental questions on the claims that he drowned and raises reasonable suspicion that he may have been murdered.

As you can see, the gory photograph of the corpse shows visible signs of deep cut in the neck and a bloodied body.

I petitioned the Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Command on behalf of the father of the deceased who is a retired Superintendent of the Nigeria Police Force to demand a thorough investigation and a coroner’s inquest.

I also wrote to the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, the Attorney General of Akwa Ibom State and the Commissioner for Youth and Sport in Akwa Ibom asking for their intervention in ensuring that justice is done in this case.

Those who should be questioned are evading police invitations and playing hide and seek. No one has been arrested or questioned till date.

The family suspects that there are ongoing plans to compromise investigation into this case.

The family is demanding justice.

We are sick in Africa. How can people be praying for a spoilt transformer. Watch this video and know that we have major problems.