₦airaland Forum

Former Kogi State Deputy Governor, Yomi Awoniyi has faulted the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, primary election that produced Dino Melaye as governorship candidate.

Awoniyi warned that Melaye’s emergence as PDP governorship candidate was dangerous.

Stressing that the primary election lacked credibility, Awoniyi claimed that Melaye’s votes were a product of a tainted delegates’ list.

A statement by Awoniyi said: “Without an iota of doubt, I make bold to say that Senator Melaye’s victory is a pyrrhic one.

“This victory portends great danger to the unity of our party and the prospect of winning the November 11 governorship election.

“The primary that threw up Senator Melaye was flawed; 158 delegates, who emerged from the state ad hoc congress of March 29, 2023, were replaced by the woeful Senator Abdul Ningi Congress Committee, working in concert with Melaye’s enablers within the party hierarchy at the highest level.”

Awoniyi argued that it was unfair to give an aspirant 158 votes in a contest for 739 votes with eight other aspirants.

Amidst conflicting judgements from courts, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Monday, led a delegation of workers’ unions to reinstate the embattled national chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure.

In doing so, NLC President, Joe Ajaero confirmed that the bright fortune of the party was attracting impostors who are bent on crippling the party by all means, a move he said will be resisted by the working class.

Ajaero also threatened that Nigerian workers might be compelled to occupy the residential homes of suspected impostors, some of whom orchestrated the suspension of Abure as national chairman of the party.

DAILY POST recalls that a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, had ordered Abure to stop parading himself as the national chairman of the party a week after a ward in the Edo State chapter of the party suspended him over alleged anti-party activities.

Shortly after the court order, the party’s national vice chairman, Lamido Bashir Apapa, who had been accused of being sponsored by the opposition parties, took over the party in an acting capacity.

But in another twist, a High Court in Benin gave a counterorder, restraining anybody from removing the embattled party chairman from his office.

Ajaero, who was accompanied by the NLC General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, TUC leaders and other labour leaders as well as hundreds of workers, to the secretariat, said as trustees of the party, nobody is mandated to occupy any position in the party without their consent.

Ajaero said: “Today, we have come to say enough is enough. Never again will those imposters enter here, under any guise, under any order. Even if we lose our leadership, we have to meet as trustees of this Labour Party to decide the next line of action.

“For anybody to illegally declare himself either as chairman, secretary or whatever, we urge all workers anywhere in the country, where you see such people, arrest them and bring them to us. The hour has come.”

He also added: “As the fastest-growing party, you can see that envy, jealousy is creeping in. The people that are pioneering this, to sabotage us, let’s announce here that we know your fathers. If you continue this way, we will go after your fathers.”

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to “sanction all erring officials who carried out the illegal” declaration of Aisha Binani as the winner of the Adamawa governorship poll.

Yunusa Ari, the resident electoral commissioner (REC) of INEC in Adamawa, declared Binani as the winner around 9am on Sunday, sparking controversy.

The collation of results in the state had been suspended on Saturday night after results from 10 LGAs were announced.

Based on the announced figures, Binani was trailing Ahmadu Fintiri, the incumbent governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate.

The collation of the remaining 10 LGAs’ results was expected to commence by 11am on Sunday.

Mele Lamido, the returning officer for the Adamawa governorship election, was not present when Ari announced Binani as the winner of the election.

According to sections 64 and 65 of the Electoral Act, only Lamido is empowered to declare the winner of the election.

The electoral commission had promptly reacted by suspending the collation of results and declaring the announcement of the REC as null and void.

Commenting on the situation, the CDD said: “The laws and procedures guiding Nigeria’s elections are such that only the returning officer can make such a declaration, which makes this recent announcement null and void.

“We call on @inecnigeria to immediately exercise its powers by continuing the collation process that was scheduled to resume today, sanction all erring officials who carried out this illegal announcement and ensure that results are publicly available to all citizens.

“It is important that laid down processes are adhered to avoid a breakdown of law and order in a heightened political environment. CDD will release a statement on the conduct of the elections later today.”

Fintiri, the Adamawa governor, has described the development as the handiwork of the “enemies” of democracy.

https://f5p3e9e4.stackpathcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Adamawa-guber.jpg

https://cdn.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/15011905/oluyede.jpg

The Alayede of Ayede Ogbese in the Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, Oba Ajibola Oluyede, Iseoluwa II, speaks to OLADIMEJI RAMON about his journey from legal practice to the throne and the changes in his kingdom over the years

What kind of childhood did you live through? Were you groomed to become a king?

Well, in our culture, there is no guarantee that any particular child is going to become a king. They believe very strongly that God, Himself, chooses the king. So, there was no special treatment for any particular child. But usually, in the royal family, there is a lot of rules and regulations, regarding integrity, honesty, hard work, respect for elders. The royal family is supposed to epitomise the ethos of omoluabi. So, every child is, actually, in that sense, groomed to be a leader. But there is no special arrangment like in England where you already know a child who is going to be king or queen and you begin to take a special interest in that particular child. We don’t have that in Yoruba culture.

What kind of family were you born into?

My parents were academics. My father was a professor of law and my mother retired as principal of one of the top model secondary schools in Lagos. She had earlier taught me at the University of Ife Staff School before she obtained her BA in Education from the University of Ife. They both travelled abroad to study. And that was when they left me to grow up withmy grandfather, who was then king. So, I lived with my grandparents in my first six years (of life). And I keep referring to that period in my life as a grooming period. Really, I think it’s more of a period that gave me some level of commitment to my community. It made me love my community and made me want to participate in the development of that community, in whichever way I could, not necessarily as the king.

[i]Were you the only child your parents left with your grandfather or were your siblings also left with him?[/i]

At that time, there were only two of us (children)– my younger brother, who is about a year and a half younger than me, and myself. I was left with my paternal grandparents while he was left with my maternal grandparents in Ikole Ekiti. I was in Akure and Ayede Ogbese with my paternal grandparents. But because he was in Ikole Ekiti and I was in Ayede Ogbese, my parents thought I needed someone to keep me company, so, one of my first cousins was also drafted in to be my playmate. His name is Ajibade Oluyede.

What year did you enter the University of Ife?

That was 1977.

Growing up with your grandfather, did he predict or suggest that you would one day also ascend the throne?

If he did, not to me. But I knew that I was kind of like his favourite grandchild; I got special treatment from him all the time. And I always returned to him as often as I could. My parents would take me back to him on his request. I would spend days, sometimes, just to keep that bond that was between us.

How long after he passed on did you ascend the throne?

It’s like a lifetime. I think he passed on in 1977 or 1978; I can’t quite remember. I think I was in secondary school at the time, Government College Ibadan, when he passed on.

You had a vibrant, successful practice as a lawyer; you lived in the city. Was it an easy decision for you leave your legal practice and the city to relocate to Ayede Ogbese to become a monarch?

As I was practising my law, I also had an interest in agriculture and I believe that came from my time with my grandfather. So, I love nature and going back to be close to nature, in that sense. For a long time, of course, I kind of abandoned my community while I was studying and in the early days of my practice. I really was not interested in going back; I was busy trying to build something outside there. But when my father became a king — my father was a king before me; he was a professor of Law…

Interesting, I didn’t know your father was a king too; I thought you are the second person in your family to ascend the throne after your grandfather.

No, there were about four other kings before me after my grandfather. When he passed on, his first son succeeded him. My dad is his third son.

It then means there is only one ruling house in Ayede Ogbese?

Yes, there is only one ruling house and that is the law, a government-gazetted White Paper on our stool.

So, going back to your home town was not difficult?


Yes, because of my interest in nature, which is the foundation of my interest in agriculture. When my father was a king, I started visiting more often and then I started buying land because even though there are some family land, my father advised me that if I wanted to develop anything in town, I should just buy land. So, I started buying land. And I wasn’t even thinking of becoming a king then; I was just thinking of investing in and developing the community. I was already building a residence before I became a king. I finished the house before my coronation. So, that has made me very comfortable even here. With my family, we are just as comfortable as we can be anywhere else in the world.

What has become of your legal practice now that you’ve become a monarch?

People say I no longer practise as a lawyer but that’s because they have a very narrow view of legal practice. If you have listened to anything I’ve said in the past, you would have noticed that I am always trying to broaden the scope of law practice, to kind of get lawyers in Nigeria to understand that law practice is not just about going to court. Remember my view about the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigerian and all that nonsense. This was partly also because I believe Nigerian lawyers and the Nigerian populace do not understand that a lawyer’s role is 99 per cent more relevant outside the courtroom, than in the courtroom. Going to court is just about one per cent of the activities of a lawyer and you go to court only when things have broken down. I am a disciple of the theory that lawyers are mechanics and they keep society going, so it doesn’t break down. Now, litigation is when society breaks down, so you have to be repairing it. My belief it that it’s better for a lawyer to prevent a breakdown. The work of a lawyer, therefore, should be more focused on preventing a breakdown than trying to repair a breakdown. But unfortunately, in our own environment here, people don’t really understand that a lawyer should be involved in everything — negotiating a contract, drawing up that contract, setting up the structure for the economy to function and so on.

Now, what I am doing in my home town will astound people. My law practice is also in my home town; I am employing lawyers in my home town. I am now building a new branch of my practice in my home town. We need lawyers to advise farmers on the various schemes that the government has put in place. They (the farmers) don’t know what to do; they don’t know how to access Anchor Borrower’s loan; they don’t know how to access agricultural loans; so, they need a lawyer to help them with this and to help them negotiate with the financial institutions, so they are not cheated. And lawyers get paid for all these jobs. So, a lawyer’s job is not just about going to court. So, when people say I am no longer practising, I look at them and laugh. Of course, I am still practising; I am still negotiating contracts; I am still advising clients. The only thing I don’t do now is that I don’t appear in court.

So, does this mean that you really don’t miss the courtroom and the wearing of gown and wig?

No, I don’t miss it at all because if you look at my practice, you will see that I am a strategist when it comes to litigation. I use the court more for leverage than for solution because I believe very strongly that our judicial system is very imperfect. I believe that the personnel that man the judicial system are not competent enough for their role. They are not trained well enough; the people that are usually chosen to go to the bench as judges are not the best in the profession, as we have it in other countries, where it is the crème de la crème among the lawyers that are appointed to be judges. In Nigeria, it is the ones that have failed in practice, who don’t know what to do and are just looking for a way out, that end up on the bench as judges. Of course, there are some good people there, but 80 per cent of the judges are not meant to be on the bench. They are not competent enough, in my view. So, the way I see litigation, therefore, is more for leverage than for solution, because there is no solution when a judge does not understand the structure of society. So, you see many of my cases don’t go to the Supreme Court.

You mentioned that you have a legal practice in Ayede Ogbese now and you have lawyers advising farmers. Are these farmers able to pay for the services of lawyers?

They don’t have to pay. In America, the reason people have access to good lawyers is because most of the time, they don’t have to pay because the lawyers have developed what they call entrepreneurship; they are entrepreneur lawyers. They get contingency fee; that is, they get paid when they are successful. If I am advising a farmer on how to raise N250m and I tell him, ‘Yes, I will advise you and help you to get this money and you will pay me three or five per cent or even 10 per cent as my fee’; he will be more willing because he knows he is not going to pay until he sees the money. So, I even make more money as a lawyer than if I were to bill him N1m he cannot afford to pay me. So, that is the way to go for relevance.


Can you give us a glimpse into what your coronation rites were like?

The state law relating to our stool requires that interested male members of the Oluyede family should submit their applications to their family. The family has a kind of corporate meeting to which you submit your application. At that meeting, you can be disqualified by the family. But in my case, all of us who applied were allowed by the family to proceed to the next stage. That next stage involves the kingmakers, who come together to consider the applications. Their job is to go and do whatever spiritual thing they do, that reveals to them whom God has chosen. In the old traditional system, they consulted Ifa, which then tells them. But these days, because our family is Christian, we have jettisoned all the fetish, old system; now we encourage the kingmakers to consult with religious leaders, Christian leaders. That is what we encourage them to do, to seek spiritual advice and through that get to know the mind of God. When they come back and say this is the person they believe God has chosen, then that person is presented to the populace to see if the populace will revolt because you may find a candidate that Ifa, in those days, or God, now, has chosen and the people may say they don’t want. So, the people can be in conflict with God but often God will win.

In my case, there was no impediment at all. Once the kingmakers decided it was me, it then went to the local government, the state government and they did their findings and decided whether one has a criminal record and so on. If there is no objection, they then approve and confirm and the government, at the coronation, presents you with your letter of appointment and staff of office.

So, in your coronation, there was no process that involved some traditional spiritual rites?

As I told you, my father was a very strong Christian, even though Aglican. So, by the time he became a king — he was king for five years before he passed — he changed a lot of things. In fact, he appointed two of the three high chiefs and he appointed very young people who are Christians. So, things had already changed before my turn. So, there were no fetish processes. In any case, if there were, they would dare not bring them to me because they already know my stance. They knew that I was a pastor and there was no way I was going to paricipate in anything that is contrary to my belief in Jesus Christ.

If Ayede Ogbese kingmakers now consult Christian leaders, rather than Ifa, to choose the king, does that mean that the Ayede Ogbese stool is no longer a traditional stool?

It is still a traditional stool. I had a little bit of this debate when I was talking to the Ooni at some point and he said to me: ‘What is the relevance of Christianity to the Yoruba institution?’ At that time when I was about to be installed, I consulted with him; I have known him for years. At one point, jokingly though, he said he knew I was going to have a Christian coronation; he doesn’t understand what Christianity has to do with the Yoruba traditional institution. I told him it’s because most of us don’t know the history of the Yoruba properly. If we know the history of the Yoruba and we all believe that Oduduwa is our progenitor; then we will understand that, in fact, our culture is Christianity because Oduduwa was a Coptic Christian and the reason he left Egypt was because the Moslems were coming to take over Egypt at a time. So, he escaped from Egypt. The genealogists who had followed parts of his journey to Ife, which is called the cradle of the Yoruba race, claimed in their own findings that wherever he stayed, they found the symbol of Christianity, like the cross, there. And Oduduwa stopped in many places; he stopped in Nupe; he stopped in Bwari and that is why the culture of the Bwari is very similar to that of the Yoruba. So, if you know all these, you will see that Christianity is not strange (to the Yoruba).

When he got to Ife, there were already people in Ife, who were worshipping other gods. I think everybody, all historians, agree on that. Those people were called Ugbo and that is the basis of the theory that the Olugbo of Ugbo in the Ilaje area should have been the Ooni of Ife because the Ooni of Ife was actually a chief priest; he was not an Oba; he was the chief priest of their religion, which Oduduwa met them with and he didn’t impose his Christianity on them.

If you look at the so-called Yoruba gods; they were all human beings — Sango, Ogun, Oya. They were all human beings, who just achieved something significant and then people decided to worship them. So, I don’t see any conflict between Christianity and the Yoruba traditional institution, at all. If anything, I think Christianity articulates our thoughts as Yoruba, more efficiently than any other religious structure.

How do you relate with traditional worshippers in your kingdom being a Christian Oba?

Very well. They come to me but everybody knows my stand; I made that clear from the beginning even before I became the king. In our kingdom, there is a river called Ogbe. In fact, the headquarters of our kingdom, Ayede Ogbese, was named after that river. Ayede Ogbese means people have come to Ogbese river. People believe that river has spiritual powers. People come from all over the country to bathe and so on, for healing and so on and it has its priests and priestesses that attend to people. People asked me: This river that we have been worshipping for centuries, are you going to stop the worship? And I said I am not setting out to stop the worship of the river, per se. Of course, I would do my best to persuade those who are worshipping a river, to stop worshipping a river because the river should be serving them and not them serving the river, because they turned God’s creation upside-down when they worship what God has given them to have dominion over. But it is not by force; I can’t force anyone to stop that; I can only remonstrate with them; talk to them and pray for them and hope that God opens their eyes. But I am not going to participate in it.

The Independent National Electoral Commission is set to prosecute over 200 persons arrested for various electoral offences during the just concluded general elections.

Already, the Nigeria Police Force has transferred over 50 case files of electoral offences to the electoral umpire.

Giving updates on the number of case files INEC offices across the country had received from the police and how many electoral offenders had been handed over to it, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, told Saturday PUNCH in an exclusive interview on Friday, “The commission has received over 50 case files from the police authorities. There are over 200 accused persons set for prosecution.

“The commission has directed its Litigation and Prosecution Department to study the files and advise it on the prosecution. The department has since commenced action and as soon as it finishes, it will revert to the commission accordingly.”

On March 13, 2023, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, directed commissioners of police in charge of state commands to ensure investigation in all cases of violation of the Electoral Act during the February 25, 2023 presidential and National Assembly polls.

The IG directed them to swiftly conclude investigation and forward the case files to INEC for prosecution.

On March 14, the Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said the commission was setting up a legal team to deal with cases of electoral offenders during the February 25 presidential and National Assembly polls.

On March 28, Baba directed that all electoral offences case files should be submitted to the Commissioner of Police in charge of the legal unit.

This, according to him, is to enable central collation and coordinated processing to the legal unit of INEC preparatory to the commencement of the prosecution process.

He gave an assurance that the NPF would collaborate with the INEC leadership in ensuring that all electoral offenders were expeditiously and transparently prosecuted not only in the interest of criminal justice, but in furtherance of the police’s vision of sanitising its electoral space.

Baba spoke at a meeting with strategic police managers of the NPF comprising deputy inspectors-general of police and members of the force management team, assistant inspectors-general of police, commissioners of police and other tactical commanders in Abuja.

ICPC, EFCC probe 78
In a related development, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has revealed that it is still investigating 13 suspects arrested for alleged voters’ inducement during the presidential and National Assembly, and the governorship and State Assembly elections.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had in March revealed that it was investigating 65 suspects arrested during the polls, but has yet to give details of the arrests made during the presidential election.

The spokesperson for the ICPC, Azuka Ogugua, disclosed that the commission was still investigating the suspects during an interview with one of our correspondents on Friday.

She noted that of the 13 suspects, nine were apprehended during the presidential and National Assembly elections, while four were arrested during the governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls nationwide.

Ogugua said, “Investigations are ongoing concerning the arrested suspects. During the presidential elections, four vote buyers were arrested in Osun State with documents containing a list of names, phone numbers and account details of persons suspected to be voters. One vote buyer was arrested in Ondo State with recharge cards worth N500 each, another vote buyer was arrested in Borno State with four PVCs, N49,000 and 20 pieces of wrappers.

“One vote buyer was arrested in Akwa Ibom State with names and account numbers of vote sellers. Two vote buyers were also arrested in Sokoto State with signed tickets to enable them access wrappers and bags of rice after voting.

“Also, one vote buyer was arrested in Bauchi State with N2m recovered from him. He was arrested by troops of 33 Artillery Brigade and handed over to the ICPC.

“During the governorship and state Assembly elections, three vote buyers were arrested in Sokoto State with two PVCs, ATM cards, Infinix phone and CFA228,000 recovered from them. One vote buyer was also arrested in Katsina State with an unspecified amount of money.”

Saturday PUNCH could not get the latest update concerning the arrests made by the EFCC during the elections as the Head, Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, did not respond to inquiries by one of our correspondents.

However, he had in a statement in March revealed that the agency arrested 65 suspects during the governorship poll. However, the commission did not reveal the total number of arrests made during the presidential election in February.


The statement read in part, “Twenty of the suspects were arrested by operatives from the Ilorin Zonal Command, 13 suspects were arrested by the Kaduna Zonal Command and the Port Harcourt Zone arrested 12 suspects for various offences bordering on inducing voters with money. It added that the Uyo Zonal Command arrested four in Calabar. The remaining suspects were arrested in Gombe, Sokoto, Kebbi and Niger states.”

He, however, noted that investigations were still ongoing, adding that those arrested in Kaduna State consisted of 10 males and three females, adding that investigations had so far revealed that the major modus operandi of the suspects was to give cash, transfer money, coupons and send recharge cards to eligible voters to induce them.

Uwujaren explained that the Uyo Zonal Command arrested one Esther Edem, the woman leader of a political party for Ward 11, and two others, Edet Etim and Asanwana Eyo, for alleged vote-buying in Calabar, adding that Edem was caught with account numbers and thousands of naira in an uncompleted building.

The EFCC spokesman said the 20 suspects arrested from different parts of Kwara were caught with incriminating items like cash, notebooks containing names of voters, PoS machines, mobile phones and voter cards, among others.

“Upon interrogation, some of the suspects identified themselves as party agents, while some admitted distributing money to induce voters,” Uwujaren said.

He noted that the Gombe Zonal Command arrested 10 persons and recovered 43 pieces of wrappers and N1,923,900.

The acting Commander, Ilorin Zonal Office, Mr Michael Nzekwe, while parading the suspects, said, “We recovered huge sums of cash and Point of Sale machines. We are still investigating the matter. After the investigation, we will strictly follow the provisions of the law.”

The EFCC also said it had deployed 100 armed operatives to combat vote-buying in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states during the supplementary elections.

The Kano Zonal Commander, EFCC, Mr Farouk Dogondaji, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Kano on Friday.

“We have deployed 20 personnel to monitor the conduct of the state Assembly elections in Kafur, Kankara in Katsina State,” he said.

He explained that adequate personnel were also deployed to monitor the exercise in Tudun Wada/Doguwa and Takai federal constituency, as well as some state Assembly election in Kano State.

Dogondaji said other personnel were also deployed for the House of Assembly election in Katsina and Jigawa states to prevent vote-buying.

He stated, “We have also deployed officers in the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano and the metropolis to monitor the exercise.

“We will be visible in all the polling units in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa to carefully monitor the entire exercise during and after the elections.


“We will be physically present at collection centres to prevent tampering with results from the local government areas to the state.

“We are carefully monitoring the entire exercise along with state security agencies towards providing a peaceful atmosphere for eligible voters to elect their leaders.”

The Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu has lambasted the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, for trying to present the $460,000 forfeiture case as one relating to tax evasion and not drug charges.

Shaibu said in a statement to Naija News that after the lies told by Tinubu and his surrogates, the truth had finally been unravelled through the processes filed by the APC at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

He said, “Festus Keyamo had gone on national television to say that Tinubu’s forfeiture of $460,000 was based on tax obligations. At least they have now finally admitted that the forfeiture was in relation to a drug trafficking case even though Tinubu did not admit guilt.

“But what has been established is that Justice John Nordberg ordered on October 4, 1993 that the funds in the amount of $460,000 held in First Heritage Bank in the name of Bola Tinubu represent the proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were involved in financial transactions in violation of 18 U.S. 1956 and 1957.

“Tinubu should know that he cannot outrun his past. He was investigated in relation to heroin trafficking. He had millions of dollars in his account while on a salary of $2,500 monthly, and he forfeited part of it in order to escape jail. These are the facts. Elections are over, and he should stop lying to Nigerians.”

Shaibu said Keyamo’s lack of understanding of the legal proceedings was one of the reasons he failed as a prosecutor with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“Festus Keyamo’s law degree really needs to be investigated. One wonders how he even became a senior advocate. He went on national television to say the $460,000 was a fine for not paying taxes.

“Now, Tinubu is telling the Election Petition Tribunal that the money in question was forfeited as part of a court decree in relation to his drug case. No wonder Keyamo lost so many high profile cases with the EFCC while he was a prosecutor,” Shaibu said.

Atiku’s aide, however, knocked Tinubu for claiming that he was not under investigation, but only the funds in his bank accounts were under probe.

He asked Tinubu to explain to Nigerians how he was able to deposit millions of dollars one year after opening bank accounts while earning a salary of $2,500 at Mobil.

He said: “Elections are over, but Tinubu is still trying to deceive Nigerians. Is he saying the millions of dollars found in his account just magically appeared there just as how his aide said on live television that the bullion van found on his premises ahead of the 2019 poll erroneously found their way there?

“Tinubu should stop taking Nigerians for a ride. Let him explain the business he did in order to have such a humongous sum of money in his account.”

Shaibu said a Tinubu presidency would represent a setback in the fight against narcotics, given his antecedents and his open admission that he lived with known drug kingpins.

He implored the US authorities to set aside diplomatic protocols and furnish the Nigerian judiciary with all information relating to the trial and verdict of the US investigation of Tinubu over drug dealings and his forfeiture of the sum of 460,000 US dollars during his conviction.

“The US should not associate with electoral thieves by merely stating whether he is still under probe or not. We need in-depth details of this corn-man,” Shaibu said

https://cdn.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-523.png

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN[b], has slammed a minimum fine of N2 million as a penalty on banks that disobey its new guidelines on the management of dormant accounts, unclaimed balances and other financial assets in financial institutions in the country.[/b]

CBN defines a dormant account as a bank account that has remained inactive for a period of at least one year. An account is classified inactive if there has been no customer or depositor-initiated transaction for a period of six months after the last customer or depositor-initiated transaction.

In the guidelines announced in a circular signed by the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, CBN, Mr Chibuzo Efobi, the apex bank added that a further daily penalty of N200,000 will be applied until full compliance.
The apex bank stated: “A contravention of any provision of the guidelines shall attract a penalty of not less than N2 million. Failure to comply with CBN’s directive in respect of any infraction shall attract a further penalty of N200,000 daily until the directive is complied with or as may be determined by CBN.”

According to CBN, the guidelines were rolled out in response to the request of banks and other stakeholders for the apex bank to further clarify the procedure for the management of dormant and inactive accounts by banks in Nigeria.

The guidelines: “The financial institution shall bear the costs of maintaining inactive and dormant accounts as well as contacting the customers; Render quarterly reports on dormant accounts in a prescribed format to Banking Supervision Department and Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, CBN; Notify account owners in writing through the agreed medium such as email, text message, and letter immediately an account becomes inactive/dormant; Reactivate dormant accounts upon request by the account owner or his/her legitimate representatives; Continue to reflect dormant account balances as deposit liabilities and such balances, where applicable, shall continue to earn interest until they are transferred to CBN.”

In its electronic fact sheet for 2021, the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, NIBSS, stated that the number of bank accounts stood at 191.4 million as of December 2021, while the number of active bank accounts was 133.5 million owned by 122.3 million active bank customers.

This indicates that 57.9 million inactive accounts were recorded during the period.

Against the backdrop of the imminent assumption of office, the World Bank Group, WBG, has given a long list of challenges that need to be addressed in the immediate term by the new leadership of the Federal Government.

The WBG President, David Malpass, in a press briefing at the ongoing Spring Meetings of the Bretton Woods institutions in Washington D.C., United States of America yesterday, also hinted that economic growth would be subdued during the year with a forecast growth rate of 2.8 per cent, a further drop from its earlier forecast of 2.9 per cent and also a significant drop from its estimates for 2022 at 3.3 per cent.

Malpass stated: “For Nigeria, the growth was 3.3 per cent in 2022 and 2.8 per cent for 2023 is within our forecast, and our high priority in the World Bank is shared prosperity in a sustainable way. And so, as we think about Nigeria, there are many changes that are needed in order to make that happen.

“Nigeria has a big chunk of its GDP coming from the oil sector and it means that a lot of people in Nigeria are facing poverty due to the global difficulties in the sector as well as Nigeria’s peculiar challenges, and that needs to be a direct focus.

“And they (Nigeria) also face[b] insecurity across the northern regions that are very challenging. And so, the World Bank is working hard within Nigeria but also working to try to have an economic system that can be more productive.[/b]

“Nigeria has trade protection that blocks market development; they have a dual exchange rate that is very expensive for the people of Nigeria; they have high inflation and not enough diversification of the economy to really make sufficient progress”.

Speaking to the broader perspective of African economies also affecting Nigeria, Malpass said, “I wanted to give you the context for Nigeria, Egypt, and for other countries where we wish that the true success of the World Bank would be if there can be countries where the people are doing well into the future. And that I think is going to make a substantial change in the world.

“My hope would be that we can break through on the debt overhang that’s weighing on countries and also break through the structural blockages in so many of the big developing countries where rather than converging and having their growth go up faster than the advanced economies which would be their goal there is a slow down over the decade.

“Showing up like China, developing countries can grow at a 10 percent rate and catch up with advanced economies in a period of years and decades. India is showing that now with 6 percent growth but with the aspiration of 8 per cent per year growth based on policies that will generate faster growth, more electricity, access to clean water, and more investment in agriculture, the things that are needed by the countries.”

Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th House of Representatives, a coalition has said rebellion would deny the administration of Bola Tinubu the opportunity to deliver its mandate to Nigerians.

The coalition vowed to respect the decision of the majority party in the House of Representatives.

The coalition, known as the “Joint Task – 10th Assembly,” with 283 members-elect from all the major political parties, is made up of returning and new members-elect from all political parties.

A statement by its chairman and co-chairman, Usman Bello Kumo and Kingsley Chinda said members of the coalition are in agreement with the decision of APC on zoning.

Their statement reads partly: “We are aware of the theatrics in the 8th National Assembly. But Nigerians want to see good governance and not grandstanding. Rebellion will deny the incoming Tinubu administration the opportunity to deliver on its mandate and the high expectations from Nigerians, especially under the current ethnic and religious tension in the country.”

President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Assistant on Digital Communication, Bashir Ahmad has mocked the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, over his detention in the United Kingdom.

Ahmad said Obi was treated like a common criminal in the UK.

Reports had emerged that UK Immigration had detained Obi for hours and interrogated him after his British Airways plane landed at Heathrow Airport on Friday morning over alleged impersonation.

The development has continued to generate reactions from concerned citizens.

Reacting, Ahmad said Obi’s arrest in the UK was unacceptable.

He charged the UK government to explain to Nigerians the circumstances surrounding Obi’s arrest.

Tweeting, the presidential aide wondered if it was the real Obi or a fake that was arrested and detained.

According to Ahmad: “A whole former presidential candidate treated like a common criminal, unacceptable. Haba.

“The UK should kindly tell us what they know about the numerous Peter Obis roaming around. His detention got me really disturbed.

“Was it the authentic Obi or the criminal Obi that contested and came 3rd in the February presidential election? I hope it wasn’t the criminal one oo!”

The leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, on Wednesday, said the next Senate President should be Igbo.

Primate Ayodele revealed that if the next Senate President doesn’t come from the Igbo tribe, the position will likely fall into the hands of a Muslim.

In a statement signed by his spokesman, Oluwatosin Osho, the cleric said if a Muslim emerges as the next Senate President, the incoming government will be in jeopardy because there will be political tension in the country.

The man of God, who has been against the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling party, reiterated his stand against the combination, making it known that God isn’t in support of it and that the country will still be thrown into crises as a result of the ‘ungodly’ combination.

He further advised Igbo lawmakers to come together to support one of their own to attain the position of Senate President because the zone will be sidelined for many years if they are unable to produce the next person that will occupy the position.

According to Ayodele: “In all fairness, the Igbos should produce the next Senate President; if not, a Muslim will emerge and jeopardise the incoming government’s activities. It will also cause political tension and imbalance in the government.

“Igbo lawmakers need to be united than ever before in order to push one of their own to become the next senate president because if they are unable to make it happen, the region will be sidelined in this incoming government.

“God doesn’t approve this Muslim-Muslim government, it will still create a lot in the country and will be the worse government so far.”

Also, in the House of Representatives, Primate Ayodele advised the opposition to form a coalition in order to defeat the ruling party in the Speakership race.

He explained that their unity would put the incoming government on its toes.

“The opposition should form a coalition regarding the House of Representatives speakership position. They need to put the incoming government on its toes and that can only happen if the opposition produces the next House of Representatives speaker. If the ruling party emerges, Nigeria will be in a very difficult situation,” he said.

A former Director of Voter Education and Publicity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, on Tuesday, said electronic collation of results for the 2023 general elections was not compulsory.

Osaze-Uzzi, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said the prescribed mode of collating results is manual.

Former Director of Voter Education and Publicity of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, speaks on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 11, 2023.

Making reference to Section 64 (4) of the Electoral Act, the former INEC spokesman said section empowers the electoral commission to start collating the result upon verification and confirmation of the result.

“The prescribed mode is the manual collation; it didn’t say you should collate electronically. There is nowhere in the law, guidelines you will see electronic (collation of result),” he stated.

“Go back to (Section) 64 (4). Verification and confirmation, that is what is required with the electronically transmitted. But collation is still manual.

“Before you start that process, you must go to the electronic ones and say ‘Are these figures consistent?’ It doesn’t say to start collating from the BVAS, transmitted results. It says to start collation. Before you start collation, look at it and if the figures are the same, you gather all the EC8As together. In that sense, it is a manual process.”

N3bn On Electoral Cases?

Although the presidential and governorship polls have been held nationwide, there are still litigations filed by aggrieved parties who are challenging the outcome of the exercise.

In view of this, there are reports that INEC has budgeted over N3 billion to defend the results of the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections and the March 18 governorship and state assembly polls.

Commenting on the issue, Osaze-Uzzi said though he read the reports in the media, he cannot officially verify how true it is from INEC.

He said, “I read that on social media, but I don’t know if it is an official statement from the commission. But yes, N3 billion for defending. But not just defending, but to the logistics of moving things around.”

https://f5p3e9e4.stackpathcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Peter-Obi1.png

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has filed its response against a petition by Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), on the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.

On Monday, the APC, through Thomas Ojo, a member of the party’s legal team, countered the petition filed by Obi.

On March 1, Tinubu, the standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared the winner of the presidential election.

Tinubu secured 8,794,726 votes, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had 6,984,520, and Peter Obi of the LP polled 6,101,533.

However, the PDP and LP rejected the result. Both parties approached the tribunal with separate petitions to challenge Tinubu’s victory.

In his petition, Obi submitted that Tinubu “at the time of the (presidential) election was not qualified to contest the election” owing to the payment of “a fine of $460,000 for an offence involving dishonesty, namely narcotics trafficking imposed by the United States District Court” on him in 1993.

The petition also stated that Tinubu did not score the two-thirds of votes cast in the federal capital territory (FCT) during the presidential election.

Countering Obi’s petition, APC said the LP presidential candidate was not a valid member of the LP as at the time of the election.

The APC added that the former Anambra governor was a member of the PDP until May 24, 2022, and was screened as one of the party’s presidential hopefuls in April 2022.

“1st petitioner (referring to Peter Obi) participated and was cleared to contest the presidential election while being a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP):

“1st petitioner purportedly resigned his membership of Peoples Democratic Party on 24 May 2022 to purportedly join the 2nd Petitioner (Labour Party) on 27 May 2022.

“2nd petitioner conducted its presidential primary on 30th May 2022, which purportedly produced 1st petitioner as its candidate, which time contravened section 77(3) of the Electoral Act for him to contest the primary election as a member of the 2nd petitioner.

“The 1st petitioner was not a member of the 2nd Petitioner as at the time of his alleged sponsorship.

“Whereas, by the mandatory provisions of Section 77 (1) (2) and (3) of the Electoral Act 2022, a political party shall maintain a register and shall make such register available to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not later than 30 (thirty) days before the date fixed for the party primaries, congresses and convention.

“All the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were screened on 29th April, 2022, an exercise which the 1st petitioner herein participated and cleared to contest while being a member of the party.

“The 1st petitioner herein resigned his membership of the PDP on Thursday 26th May, 2022 and joined the Labour Party the following day being 27th May, 2022.

“The 2nd petitioner herein conducted its presidential primary on 30th May, 2022, which produced the 1st petitioner as the candidate it intended to sponsor in the general election.

“By section 77(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, the 2nd petitioner is mandated to have submitted its comprehensive register of members to the 1st respondent (referring to INEC) 30 days before its presidential primary. That is to say the said register of members must have been submitted to the 1st Respondent on or before 30th April, 2022.

“The 1st petitioner as at 30th April, 2022 was still a member of the PDP and his name was not and could not have been in the register of members submitted by the 2nd petitioner to 1st respondent.”

The ruling party submitted that Obi’s petition was “improperly constituted by the non-joinder of Atiku and PDP who are necessary parties to be affected by the reliefs sought”.

The APC also argued that Obi “lacks the locus standi” to challenge the outcome of the election because LP “did not present a valid candidate for that election”.

The ruling party submitted that the tribunal does not have the powers to entertain “pre-election complaints embedded” in Obi’s petition.

The Labour Party, LP presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi and Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, were among the trending searches in Google in the first quarter of 2023.

This was according to the report released by the search engine platform yesterday.
The report says: “Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, captured the top spot, outpacing even Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the president-elect of Nigeria. Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, claimed the fifth position.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) emerged as the most searched entity between January and March, with Peter Obi and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) closely following. The CBN’s currency redesign prior to the elections undoubtedly contributed to its prominence.

“In the realm of music, homegrown talent took center stage as Nigerians avidly sought out the latest tunes. Spyro’s infectious hit, ‘Who is your guy?’ claimed the top spot, with Ruger’s ‘Asiwaju’ and ‘Carry me go’ by Boy Spyce and Khaid securing second and third places, respectively.”

It noted: “The nation’s collective curiosity was also evident in the top trending questions, which ranged from 'When is Easter 2023?’ and ‘When is WAEC 2023 starting?[/b]’ to ‘How to check my polling unit?’ and ‘Who is the President of Nigeria?’.

Unsurprisingly, the popularity of Spyro’s song sparked the question, ‘Who is your guy?’, further showcasing Nigeria’s deep-rooted love for the tune,” the report added.

Prophet Wale Ojo of the Harvest Centre Mission has said God would use the President-elect, Bola Tinubu to deliver Nigeria and Africa.

Ojo made the remark while noting that God sanctioned Tinubu’s emergence as President-elect.

Speaking in Lagos on Monday, the prophet said the world would marvel at Tinubu’s works upon assumption of office, NAN reports.

The clergyman said God is not bothered about the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

He stressed that ethnic colouration and religion have no consideration when God decides to pick a leader to lead his people.

Ojo said Tinubu’s administration would liberate Nigeria and Africa from poverty like the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He said: “For those saying his emergence does not follow due process, God does not follow man’s processes, rather His ways like the birth of Jesus Christ has remained a mystery to man. The bottom line is did His words come to pass?

“In every contest, there must be a winner and a loser. The reactions to the outcome of the election is expected in the human society, but as believers we should look beyond the physical and listen to the voice of God.”

https://f5p3e9e4.stackpathcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Channels-Television.jpg
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) have filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over the N5 million fine imposed on Channels Television.

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, are joined in the suit.

Last week, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) fined Channels Television over an interview with Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), saying the broadcast violated some sections of its code.

Datti had alleged that Bola Tinubu did not meet the constitutional requirements to be sworn in as Nigeria’s president.

In the suit marked FHC/L/CS/616/2023 and filed last week before a federal high court in Lagos, the plaintiffs are asking the court to determine whether the NBC code used to impose the penalty and “threat of higher sanctions is not inconsistent and incompatible with access to information and media freedom”.

The petitioners, in the suit filed by their lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare, Andrew Nwankwo, and Blessing Ogwuche, also prayed the court to declare the fine “arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional”.

The organisations also sought “an order setting aside the N5m fine for being inconsistent and incompatible with section 22, 36 and 39 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”.

The plaintiffs requested “an order directing and compelling the NBC to reverse its arbitrary and unlawful decision to impose a fine of N5m on Channels TV forthwith”.

SERAP and CJID said “the media has the task of distributing all varieties of information and opinion on matters of general interest and public interest”.

They argued that “under the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party, freedom and diversity must be guiding principles in the regulation of broadcasting. The fine of N5m imposed on Channels TV is entirely inconsistent and incompatible with these principles”.

“Although article 19(3) recognises ‘national security’ as a legitimate aim, the Human Rights Committee has stressed ‘the need to ensure that the invocation of national security is not used unjustifiably or arbitrarily to restrict freedom of expression and media freedom,” they said.

“The use of NBC Act and Code in this case would inadmissibly open the door to arbitrariness and would fundamentally restrict the freedom of expression that is an integral part of the public order protected by the Nigerian Constitution and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party.”

The litigants said the NBC Act and broadcasting code “cannot and should not be used in a manner that is inconsistent and incompatible with plurality of voices, diversity of voices, non-discrimination, just demands of a democratic society, and the public interest”.

“The fine is arbitrary and unlawful and would have a disproportionate and chilling effect on the work of other broadcast stations and journalists and Nigerians,” they said.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

https://f5p3e9e4.stackpathcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Ohaneze-Ndigbo.png
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, says it will petition President Muhammadu Buhari over the alleged victimisation of Igbos in Lagos state.

According to NAN, the group made its intention known in a communique issued after a council meeting in Enugu on Wednesday.

The leaders of the group said they will send protest letters to the national assembly and other relevant agencies to express their sadness over the alleged attacks on Igbos in Lagos.

The group also said it will set up an emergency line for Igbos in Lagos to report any form of victimisation.

“Based on the foregoing, the Council of Elders directed Ohanaeze Ndigbo to set up an Emergency Telephone Line where Igbos in Lagos who are victimized because of their Igbo origin will report,” the communique reads.

The group said it will send a delegation to Lagos to meet with some leaders of the state with a view to establishing a lasting cordial and peaceful relationship between the Igbo and the Yoruba.

“Amongst other terms of reference, the report must indicate: the number of Igbos killed, number of Igbos injured and hospitalized, number of Igbos permanently incapacitated,” the communique said.

“The report shall include the comprehensive report of Igbo assets and property destroyed including the burning of markets.”

https://www.reubenabati.com.ng/media/k2/items/cache/7894740ee847f292ce7609e4bd8cf063_XL.jpg
Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has asked the[b] Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi to leave Nigeria and never come back.[/b]

Fani-Kayode, the Director of New Media of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, said this in reaction to Obi’s outcry that he was under pressure to leave the country.

Obi, on Wednesday, accused the ruling APC and some government agencies of trying to divert the country’s attention from the infractions that marred the just concluded polls.

Speaking about the leaked audio that had his conversation with the Founder and Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church, David Oyedepo, the former Anambra state governor said, “These have come and continued to manifest in different ways, such as the malicious accusation of the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed, the circulation of a fake doctored audio call, and a pressure on me to leave the country.”

Reacting via Twitter on Thursday, Fani-Kayode said, “Please do us all a big favour and go! Sooner the better and never come back!”

https://www.reubenabati.com.ng/media/k2/items/cache/9b50c3ab09a0fe6bc1845948ec7a9cfd_XL.jpg?t=20230408_042412
Pope Francis has praised the virtues of sex in a documentary released on Wednesday, describing it as “one of the beautiful things that God has given to the human person”.

The 86-year-old pontiff made the comment in The Pope Answers, a Disney+ production, which captures a meeting he had last year in Rome with 10 people aged in their early 20s.

Francis was quizzed by the young people on a variety of topics, including LGBT rights, abortion, the porn industry, sex, faith and sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

“To express yourself sexually is a richness. So, anything that detracts from real sexual expression lessens you and depletes this richness,” he said, referring to masturbation.

When asked whether he knew what a “non-binary person” was, Francis replied in the affirmative, saying that LGBT people must be welcomed by the Catholic Church.

“All persons are the children of God - all persons. God does not reject anybody. God is a father. And I have no right to expel anyone from the church,” he said.

On the subject of abortion, Francis said priests should be “merciful” towards women who have terminated a pregnancy, but he said the practice remains unacceptable.

“It is good to call things by their name. It is one thing to accompany the person who had one (abortion), quite another to justify the act,” he said.

The pope’s remarks were published by L'Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, which described his conversation with the young people as an “open and sincere dialogue”.

Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi has declared that he would not run for any elective position.

He said this on Saturday at Ochuche in Ogbaru Local Government, where his former Commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, Dubem Obaze received a chieftaincy title from the coalition of all traditional rulers in Anambra North.

Speaking to journalist, he said: “I started telling people during my second tenure in office as governor that I will not aspire for any elective position in the country, but some people thought I was joking.

“Some have even been speculating that I will be contesting for Senate for Anambra Central in 2015 or for another elective position at the national level and I want to say here that I have no such ambition. However, I am prepared to make myself available for the service of my country in non- elective position.


“I believe that after serving as governor for eight years, I should allow other people go for political offices meant for the state. There is therefore no truth in the rumour that I want to contest for senate next year.”

Obi said he would remain in All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, no matter the nature of assignment he is carrying out for the nation, adding that he would continue to ensure that the party becomes stronger.

The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill that seeks to prevent Nigerian-trained medical or dental practitioners from being granted full licences until they have worked for a minimum of five years in the country.

The bill, sponsored by Ganiyu Johnson, seeks to amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act.

It was debated and scaled second reading on Thursday.

Leading the debate on the bill, Johnson said to the House that it was only fair for medical practitioners, who enjoyed taxpayer subsidies on their training, to “give back to the society”.

The bill was opposed by Uzoma Abonta from Abia State, who argued that “such a bill will be like enslavement.”

Despite the argument by Abonta, the bill scaled second reading and referred to committee on health services.

A day-old baby girl has been abandoned close to a church by the roadside in the Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that after the baby girl was abandoned by the roadside, a yet-to-be-identified resident who was on her way to a store in the area heard her crying helplessly by the road around 6.30 am.

The resident, upon moving closer to the crying baby, observed that she was wearing long sleeve baby clothes, a cap and was wrapped in flannel.

Surprised by the discovery, the resident raised the alarm to attract other persons in the area to the incident but when no one claimed the baby, the resident, while suspecting that the baby’s mother abandoned her at the location at midnight, reported the case to the Ikorodu Police Division.

Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent, said the baby was receiving treatment at the Ikorodu General Hospital.

He said, “Around 7am today (Monday), a resident came to the station and reported that on her way to a nearby provision store to buy bread around 6.30am, she heard the cry of a baby.

“She checked and saw a newborn girl wrapped and kept beside the road, close to a church. She called the attention of neighbours but nobody claimed the baby, so she reported at the station.

“The baby, believed to be one day old, has been taken from the scene, and sent to the Ikorodu General Hospital, for treatment. The Family Support Unit of the Ikorodu Division is conducting a preliminary investigation into the case.”


https://punchng.com/one-day-old-baby-abandoned-on-lagos-road/

Head of Ogboni Aborigines, Oba Adetoyese Olakisan was reportedly killed in an accident while trailing kidnappers of his wives.

It was gathered that some men invaded the cult leader’s house at Imesi-Ile, Obokun local government area of Osun state early hours of Monday and abducted his two wives.

Findings showed that the incident was reported to security operatives, who mobilised and started combing forests around the communities to block routes the kidnappers may want to use in escaping.

According to sources in the town, both conventional and non-conventional security operatives were involved in the operation and suggestions were made to block the Imesi-Ile-Edemosi- Ila area of the forest.

“Oba Olakisan with some other security personnel while travelling on Edemosi – Ila routs, the car, which he drove was involved in an accident.

“The accident, the source added, was very fatal, hence, the victims were rushed to a hospital for treatment.

“Although, no one wants to talk about it now, it is certain that Oba Olakisan eventually died, along with others due to the accident”, the source said.

Reacting, Osun police spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola also confirmed the death of the Ogboni leader in an accident.

According to her, the Ogboni leader, the Officer in Charge of Oke-Mesi was in a vehicle with another woman returning from the search of the kidnapped victims.

“About the incident related to Oba Ogboni Agbaye, the man and a policeman who is the OC of Imesi-Ile were in a vehicle with one other woman, while they were returning from a search of those that were kidnapped. They had a lone accident. The vehicle veered off the road and rammed into a tree.

[b]“They were all rushed to hospital but they all died. Meanwhile, the police are still inside the forest to rescue those that were kidnapped”, [/b]she said.

The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Umuahia today granted the prayers of the Labour Party and Abia State governor-elect, Alex Otti, to jointly inspect the election materials with the Peoples Democratic Party.

The court further directed that the Independent National Electoral Commission should avail the Labour Party the Certified True Copy of all governorship nominations from the late Prof. Uche Ikonne to Okey Ahiwe.

This would include official correspondences between the PDP and INEC on the nomination of the party’s Abia deputy governorship candidate(s).

The tribunal had earlier granted the prayers of the PDP and its candidate for the inspection of the materials used in the governorship election.

The PDP and its candidate had approached the governorship tribunal to challenge the declaration of the LP candidate, Otti, as the winner of the governorship election, an action many analysts have described as bizarre going by the overwhelming victory of the LP candidate at the polls.

Otti, whose victory drew unprecedented celebration across the state, was declared and returned as the winner of the election, almost four days after the election was concluded due to a stalemate.

This follows claims of violence and intimidation against INEC staff and Labour Party collation agents.

In this Interview with EMMANUEL OJO, veteran journalist, Liadi Tella, shares the experience of his years of practice and other contemporary issues

You celebrated your 75th birthday on March 3. How do you feel attaining that age despite the below-average life expectancy in this part of the world?

Well, I’m grateful to Almighty Allah that made it possible for me to reach this stage. I’m in good health and sound mind; I just concluded my third book and I’m writing the fourth one. So, for the fact that I am this agile, I need to show gratitude to Almighty God, and I’m very pleased that Allah has been very kind to me. I’m so healthy; I still stand and I still drive myself occasionally. I have a driver and I also exercise a little. I hope I can live a little bit longer.

On your birthday, you got commendations from the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); and the president-elect, Bola Tinubu. How best can you describe the way you felt?

I feel highly honoured and I pray that the Almighty God will bless the outgoing President and the incoming president. I thank God that he made me a journalist. If he didn’t make me a journalist, how would I have got such recognition from the outgoing President and incoming president? So, I thank God.

How did you venture into journalism? Was it coincidental or intentional?

When I started my journalism career in 1978, I didn’t know I would go that far. I started with Daily Times and by 1982, I was News Editor of The PUNCH before I joined Concord, where I spent one and half years on the foreign desk. God has been very kind to me.

I started unconsciously practising journalism at the Baptist High School, Iwo. I started the club, which was called Adete Press Club. We had a large board where we pasted articles, where people went to read in the morning, afternoon and in the evening, commenting on events around us in Western Nigeria and in Nigeria as a whole, and to answer questions on what we learnt in the class. So, with it, I eventually came up with a magazine called Adete Periscope. Adete Periscope was a student magazine launched by the principal of my school.

My class teacher then, Mr Oladunni, wrote in his testimonial, ‘A potential journalist.’ I went to him and said I couldn’t be a journalist because journalists of that era usually weren’t dressing well and weren’t wearing good shoes. So, I couldn’t fathom it. I said it was not going to be possible but he said, ‘That is what I see in you; you are the founder of Adete Press Club and the founder of Periscope magazine; is that not journalism?’ That was an apt statement from a psychological-oriented teacher. So, when I went for my degree course at the University of Benin, where I read Political Science, believing that I would be an administrator for politicians, in the class Augustus Adebayo, former SGF of the old Western Region, taught us Public Administration and told us in the class that administrators must be seen and not heard, they must be on tar and not on top. I said what kind of thing was that. I said I didn’t want to become a civil servant.

Having practised journalism for about five decades, how will you describe the experience?

Well, let me say that everything surrounds destiny but you have to walk into your destiny. When I was doing the NYSC service with Daily Times, I began to write articles for Times International. I wrote analysis for them since I read Political Science. I wrote great analysis for Times International and commentaries for Sunday Times. Within three months, the management invited me and others to choose between working in the administrative Department and going for Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism at the expense of the company. So, I chose to go for Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism at the then Institute of Journalism, Iganmu. That was where I became a trained journalist. Three months before the end of the NYSC programme, I was employed by Daily Times as a senior reporter. All graduate reporters were senior reporters.

I cannot be grateful to God enough. Four years as a reporter and news editor of The PUNCH. Again, PUNCH was the most radical newspaper in the 80s; respected and feared. You dare not give a PUNCH reporter a ‘brown envelope’, you dare not. We were very hard.

When I was appointed a foreign editor at the Concord, within one and half years, I was sent back to the news room as the editor. I never thought I would have gone back to the newsroom because I was travelling all over the world and I was enjoying myself and writing good reports, which were based on my knowledge of political science. There were no conferences held that I was not invited. I was a member of the International Committee against Apartheid. At some point, I was in Russia, in India, in Spain and all over.

Being an editor in such an era when the military government was in force, how was the experience for you not to compromise on the truth and on matters of public interest?

As journalists then, we were very stubborn. We didn’t mind the military. We were always ready to go to detention. When going to the office, we had our tooth brush and other items with us. Should they (the military) come to arrest, we were ready to go. We balanced our reports and gave people the opportunity to recall their sides of the stories. If we call and the person declines, we call again and after the third time, if there is no response, we publish the story like that and report that all attempts to get through to the person proved abortive. You can’t sue me for treason.

At Concord, I had an encounter that had to do with the military. My reporter scooped a story about military posting. It was detailed. I called the public relations officer of the military and he did not respond. So, we used the story like that and slammed it on the cover. Many of them that were promoted and deployed had yet to get their letter of deployment. The military came for my reporter and arrested her because it was her by-line that was on the story. I told the editor that we had to rescue the reporter, and the training is that you must never disclose your source of information. So, I surrendered myself by going to Apapa, and I told the director that the reporter couldn’t have published a story on her own because I edited and published it and that if there was anyone that should have been arrested, it should have been me. So, I was put in detention and my reporter was released.

After two days of interrogation, they got nothing from me. The last person to interrogate me was my friend from school days, and he told me that I had not stopped my rascality and socialist movement. Then he released me, saying that I shouldn’t die in their detention. I didn’t really care because I felt that the act of the arrest itself would make me more popular in career as a journalist; so, I never minded.

Even in the days of (Major General Tunde) Idiagbon and those eras, things were very tough. In my column in The PUNCH in 1984, I wrote a six-serial titled, ‘The Kingdom of rat and rabbit’ and it was only The PUNCH that could publish such at that time. That was during the time of (Major General Muhammadu) Buhari and Idiagbon, telling them of how they treated Nigerians at the time. Luckily, I was not arrested.

In 1993, the election won by Chief MKO Abiola, who was your boss at the time in Concord, was annulled. What roles did you play at that time and did you have a personal relationship with him?

Apart from official duties as a journalist, I was Special Adviser to Abiola on Islamic Affairs and later turned Religious Affairs, because I was the one connecting the Catholic Church and other churches, seeking assistance and help for Abiola. I was the one that was sent to them with money. I was very close to him and I usually went to his house after the close of work. I would be there sometimes till midnight or past midnight before leaving. That story had been told in a book, one of my books, which will be out soon. So, I was very close to him and was his errand boy to so many people. I enjoyed it.

I saw the whole thing coming. In 1990, I wrote him a four-page letter that in making reparation for the Black race for over 200 years of slavery, the Americans would not look kindly at him. The European colonists who are owners of France and Britain would not look kindly at you to let them to pay reparation. If Germans under Hitler, who killed six million Jews, were meant to pay reparation from 1947 to 1990, why shouldn’t Africa be paid reparation for over 200 years of slavery and who were the beneficiaries of the slave trade? It was America and Europe. I knew they were going to conspire against him.

Secondly, he held a world conference on food sufficiency for the continent of Africa where he brought agric experts from all over the world in London and for two weeks, they were brainstorming on the Africa food plan. That was adopted by the OAU (Organisation of African Unity), now called AU (African Union) and later adopted by the United Nations. MKO Abiola used his personal and private resources to do these things. If he had become the president of Nigeria, you can imagine what he would have done. So, the West feared him, so, they conspired against him and killed him, using our local artists.

When the election was coming, it was the Yoruba people that dragged him into the presidential race; he (Abiola) never wanted to contest the presidency. At a time, he said he didn’t have money to go for or contest such an enterprise, that if he knew, he would have been saving for some 15 years earlier. The leaders of Yorubaland, about 16 of them, accompanied by Baba Gbadamosi came to visit MKO and in a single night, they raised N600m as donation.

What was your experience of the Abacha junta that shut down media houses?

I was not under any particular threat at that time because I was the deputy editor of the National Concord and the daily production of the paper took me away from the centrality of the actualisation of the June 12 struggle. I was only providing backup, networking, soliciting to media and protecting Kudirat (Abiola), who was upholding the mandate of her husband.

The day she was killed, we struggled to prevent her from going out because we had information that mad killers were after her but she was to meet the French ambassador. Sadly, I wrote the story of her assassination myself, where I laid out the story the way it happened.

You also ventured into politics at some point and contested the House of Representatives seat for the Iwo Federal Constituency but lost. What prompted you to venture into politics?

Well, as a journalist, I was connected to the movers and shakers of Nigeria, and whenever they were taking critical decisions, I also wanted something for my town, Iwo. But each time I wanted to intercept, they told me to also go into politics. So, I ventured into politics so that I could also attract federal projects to my constituency. It wasn’t really that I lost, but the Action Congress of Nigeria then rigged me out through my agent at the collation centre.

The BVAS was used in accreditation but could not transmit results in real time during the presidential and National Assembly elections as promised and that was used as a yardstick by many, including international observers, to say that the polls were not credible enough. What is your response to this?

I disagree with that because they (international observers) are agents of imperialism and they marked Nigerians down and wanted us to move towards their own kind of democracy and not our own kind of democracy. Hillary Clinton had an election in America, beat her opponent by almost two million votes and she was not declared president. Is that democracy?

What do you actually mean by ‘our kind of democracy’ and how does that differentiate from that practised in the United States?

Hillary Clinton, despite winning, was not declared winner. The white supremacies of America are the manipulators of the American election. They must be told the truth; they should leave Nigeria alone. America should leave Nigeria alone. They are the ones that killed Abiola. They had several plots, about six plots to stop Tinubu (Jagaban) from becoming the president of Nigeria. They did everything possible but God disgraced them.

Peter Obi, the candidate of the Labour Party, didn’t garner his votes from the South-East alone. Some Yoruba and youths voted for him. How will you react to this?

Let them come out with the facts and figures. Facts are sacred. Well, Obi gave a good account of himself. The role of the church is that they are far more responsible for the election than the role of the youth. The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Catholic and other churches went to the grassroots to make sure that Obi was treated as the preferred candidate. Religion was taken to the highest point than any other election in the history of Nigeria.

During the Nigerian Civil War when the Igbo crossed Benin to Akure, we, the Yoruba donated two trailers loaded with food items and animals to the Biafran Army in Western Nigeria. If we hated the Igbo, we wouldn’t have done that. The impression given to the young Igbo is that Yoruba are traitors, but we will treat that on another day. We were never traitors to the Igbo. The subject matter is that those who want to destroy Nigeria are at work and they are making sure that Nigeria does not industrialise and work to become the world power. I am saying it loud and clear, please quote me. If they like, they can come for me. I will die at the time appointed for me. This blackmail of election is a plot to destroy Nigeria and we must not play into their hands.

Are there changes that journalism has undergone over the years based on the kind of journalism you practised then and that which is being practised now?

It is a very grave disaster. This era we find ourselves is the era of ‘fend for yourself’ journalism. Many media houses are not paying salaries. They also don’t give letter of employment, don’t give condition of service or review salaries for 10 years and the Nigerian journalists will be fighting for the Nigeria Labour Congress, for government to review the salaries of workers.

Islamic clerics have said that election riggers and internet fraudsters popularly called Yahoo boys (Internet fraudsters) are fasting in vain except they retrace their steps .

The Chief Imam of the University of Abuja, Prof. Taofik Azeez, and the Missioner, Islamic Youth League, Abeokuta,Ustadh Jubril Awwal, said this on Wednesday while speaking with our correspondent in Abeokuta.

The Abuja Chief Imam, who is also the Chief Missioner, Dawah Front of Nigeira, said Yahoo Boys are wasting their time by fasting except they repent.

The cleric said even if Yahoo boys use the proceds to construct a mosque, it would not be accepted.

He said, “It is a sin. They steal people’s money through diabolical means. Even, if they spend their money to build mosques, Allah is not going to accept it, because Allah is pure and is not accepting anything except what is pure.

“Yahoo boys, kidnappers are fasting in vain. They must repent and they must not return to their business after Ramadan.”

The IYL Missioner, in his remarks, said election riggers and Yahoo boys that are fasting are fasting in vain.

He said, “The month of Ramadan is to get the fear of Allah. The essence of Ramadan is to fear Allah.

“If someone has been involved in immoral acts, there is no way his fast can be accepted except he repents.”

Also speaking, the Imam of Liberty Mosque in Abeokuta, Ustadh Rasheed Adeyanju, warned election riggers and Yahoo boys against wasting their time by fasting.

He said, “These people, Yahoo boys and election riggers are bad people and are not friends of Allah.

“They have made people suffer with their actions. Their fasting is a waste of time except they stop the act and repent.”

For those who are speculating that Nigeria’s President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is seriously sick and has gone abroad for treatment are joking.

The facts remain that Tinubu is hail and hearty and is having fun in France where he had gone to rest after rigorous campaign and to engage with investors.

The president-elect was caught in a video on Saturday having the Iftar Kareem with Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos; Wale Edun, Nuhu Ribadu, among others.

The video was uploaded on the Twitter handle of President-elect.

https://cdn.pmnewsnigeria.com/2020/09/Kayode-Ajulo.jpg
An unwrinkled face is not good for a resounding slap. So it is somewhat indelicate for a lawyer who ought to be grounded in the ethics of the law profession to publicly criticize the opinions of other senior lawyers, who are revered to be authorities in their fields.

Afe Babalola, Gboyega Awomolo, Wole Olanipekun, J. B. Daudu, Lateef Fagbemi, Kanu Agabi, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, J. K. Gadzama, E. C. Ukala, Yunus Ustaz Usman, Adeniyi Akintola, Emeka Ngige, Chris Uche, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, Mike Ozekhome, Dele Adesina, J. S. Okutepa, Mahmud Magaji, Dayo Akinlaja, Ahmed Raji, Femi Falana, A. Mustapha, Ebun-Adegboruwa, and many hosts legends of the inner bar are jurists who have become oracles of constitutional law and whose opinions carry weight and speak volumes. For some of these oracles of law, their names have refused to leave the pages of our law reports.

And when they lend their respected voices to public issues, their words are taken as gospel by laymen who lack the qualification and the intellectual rigour to interrogate their opinions. So, to laymen, the opinions of these senior lawyers are Yeah and Amen!

However, this electioneering season has been an eye opening one for some of us. It has been a season of unraveling and miracles as to how some legal professionals have, either by deliberate action or absence of proper research, interpret one of the simplest provisions in our Constitution as regards election to the office of the President and requirements of the candidate for that highest public office in the land.

We have seen those that should know and those who have held exalted and enviable positions hold curious opinions on Constitutional issues that embarrass our industry and harass ones intellect.

For some of them, politics have been mixed with law in order to please certain quarters of the political class. But this is a dangerous mix. There is politics, and there is law. While they can sometimes intersect, they should not be muddled up when discussing pertinent legal issues that affect the nationhood of the country and the collective development of her citizens.

A number of emergency analysts of the law we have never heard of, or are known for being passive about crucial National issues suddenly appeared to become public figure in interpreting the laws in our Constitution as if they are a collection of formal and informal texts in an English textbook compiled for letter writing.

It is quiet even disturbing when some of my professional colleagues across border were analysing those colloquial interpretations here on one occasion of our group interactions. I must confess that I felt uncomfortable with many of their comments.

As I write this, I find myself grappling with the question: when is politics taken too far? This question has far reaching ramifications, because a honest answer to it will reveal that some senior lawyers give certain legal opinions they do not even believe in just because they have been tainted by politics. It is the common man on the streets that suffers this dangerous game of deliberate obfuscation and misinterpretation of our laws.

Lawyers cannot frown at the attitude of people flouting court orders and still be the ones selling the law of the land for a token on the altar of political standing. Deliberately misinterpretation of the law by a lawyer is a mockery of our Constitution and the legal profession and such character has a way of turning to hunt its maker.

It is therefore incumbent upon some of us who understand that the primary role of lawyers as ministers in the temple of justice is first and foremost the attainment of justice. And justice cannot be attained without truth.

Consequently, amidst the brouhaha surrounding the interpretation of section 134(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the multifarious explanations given by public commentators and senior lawyers alike, it is important to set the record straight and state the true position of the law, devoid of emotion and political chicanery.

The provisions of Section 134(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), particularly sub-paragraph (b) thereof have generated so much fuss and controversy in the past few days, especially after the conclusion and announcement of the winner of the recently concluded presidential elections.

Basically, there are two opposing sides in the arguments the above section has spawned: those who argue that for a candidate to be declared winner, he must get 25% of the votes cast in FCT (asides meeting other Constitutional criteria) and those who contend that a candidate need not poll 25% of the votes cast in FCT to be declared winner, so far as he meets other Constitutional requirements.

For the sake of clarity, Section 134(2) provides that:

(2) A candidate for an election to the office of the President shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being more than two candidates for the election –

(a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and

(b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Even though the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (FCT) is not a State properly so called, the Constitution has clothed it with the toga of a State. In other words, the FCT is treated like a State, and all the powers of a Governor in a State is vested in the Minister of the FCT. While the Houses of Assembly of the 36 States of the Federation legislate for each State respectively, the National Assembly makes laws for the FCT. Furthermore, while the States have their respective Local Government Areas, the FCT has Area Councils.

Pursuant to the above, Section 299 of the Constitution expressly provides that the provisions of the Constitution shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as if it were one of the States of the Federation. [/b]Section 299 of the Constitution has received the judicial imprimatur of the full panel of the Supreme Court in FAWEHINMI & ORS v. BABANGIDA & ORS (2003) LPELR-1255 (SC).

Hence, each time the draftsman intends to refer to the 36 States and FCT in the Constitution, it says [b]“all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (FCT)”, bearing in mind that the FCT has also been clothed with the toga of a State.

Having made the above clarification, the “and” as used by the draftsman between “all the States of the Federation” and “the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja” in sub-paragraph (b) of Section 134(2) of the Constitution cannot be interpreted to mean that what applies to other States is inapplicable to FCT. Rather, it means that the FCT is on the same pedestal as the States of the Federation, even though it’s not a State properly so called.

So, the intention of the draftsman as regards Section 134(2)(b) of the Constitution is that, the candidate, in addition to having the highest number of votes cast at the election, must also poll not less than one quarter (25%) of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation (36 States) and the FCT (a State kind of), thereby making it 25% of votes cast in at least 2/3 of 37 States. 2/3 of 37 is 24.6.

Drawing from the reasoning of the erudite jurist, Otutu Andrews Obaseki, JSC (of blessed memory), in the landmark decision of the full panel of the Supreme Court in AWOLOWO v. SHAGARI & ORS (1979) LPELR-653(SC), there’s nothing like 24.6 States, for a State is a geographical setting incapable of being divided.

Borrowing a leaf from the revered jurist, the construction that two-thirds of 37 States in the Federation (FCT inclusive) is 24.6 States may be correct in the abstract but in relation to the Constitution, it is impracticable. Where there are two possible meanings conveyed by the words of a statute or the Constitution, it is the most reasonable one that should be adopted. Where the other meaning leads to absurdity or evinces internal contradiction, that meaning should be dropped for the first as the legislature never intends to be absurd or contradictory.

The word ‘each’ in the sub-section (2)(b) of Section 134 qualifies a whole State and not a fraction of a State and to interpret it otherwise is to overlook the disharmony between the word “each” and the fraction “two thirds”. Two-thirds of thirty-seven (37), to avoid any disharmony, gives 25.

As a way of covering the base, the second school of thought contend that for a candidate to be declared winner, he must score 25% in the FCT (asides meeting other Constitutional requirements). If one agrees with this view, then it logically follows that if a candidate wins the entire 36 states of the Federation and polls the majority number of votes cast, if he fails to get 25% in FCT, then he cannot be declared winner. This cannot be the intendment of the draftsman, as the FCT cannot hold the entire nation to ransom.

So, once a candidate severally polls at least 25% of votes cast in at least 25 states, whether inclusive of FCT or not, he’s won the election so long he also has the majority of the votes cast all over the Federation.

The issue under reference has been before the Supreme Court, in 2003 in the case of Buhari Vs Obasanjo (2003) All NLR 168, the apex court in the land prophesied and held that if there’s any issue on the provision of Section 134(2), they’ll toe the part that accords with common sense. They further undertook that the court is bound to adopt a construction which is just, reasonable and sensible.

A calm perusal of the statement of the justices of the Supreme Court above reveals that they believe there is no ambiguity whatsoever in the provisions of section 134(2).

And like they opined, assuming without conceding that there is ambiguity, the Court is bound to adopt a construction which is just, reasonable and sensible.

For the sake of emphasis, the operative words are “just, reasonable and sensible.”

This then begets the question: is it just, reasonable and sensible to argue that a candidate who, for instance, won 36 States of the Federation and also polled the highest number of votes cast at an election but failed to score 25% of the votes cast in FCT, Abuja cannot be deemed the winner of the election? I think not. That would not be just, reasonable and sensible.

In Bakari v. Ogundipe (2021) 5 NWLR (Pt.1768) 1, the supreme Court held that by virtue of section 299(a) (b) of the Constitution, the provisions of the Constitution shall apply to the FCT, Abuja as if it were one of the States of the Federation.

If that is the case, why then would the FCT, Abuja be placed on so high a pedestal, like some lawyers have done, that it now supersedes other States of the Federation?

Buttressing further, If the provisions of the Constitution are to apply to FCT, Abuja as if it were one of the States of the Federation, then surely it cannot be ranked above other States of the Federation.

To steelman our arguments above, in Baba-Panya v. President, FRN (2018) 15 NWLR (Pt. 1643) 423, the Court held that the FCT, Abuja is to be treated like a State and it is not superior or inferior to any state in the Federation.

As a corollary, it would then be unjust, unreasonable and insensible [/b]to argue that scoring 25% of the votes cast in the FCT, Abuja is a mandatory Constitutional requirement, when no other State or even the entire States of the Federation enjoy this preferential treatment.

A reasonable, just and sensible interpretation of section 134(2) would then be that scoring 25% of the votes cast in the FCT, Abuja is like scoring 25% in any other State of the Federation.

[b]That is just, reasonable and sensible.

OLUKAYODE AJULO, PhD, FCIArb. UK, is a Nigerian constitutional lawyer

It is still unbelievable that a 73-year-old grandmother would set the entire family members of her son ablaze on the excuse of being starved of food by the daughter-in-law.

This horrific incident happened in Apomu Community, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, and has thrown the community into mourning.
https://cdn.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image-754.png
The grandmother, who resides with her son in the same house, decided to terminate the lives of the entire family members, simply because they failed to give her food when due.

She reportedly sprinkled petrol on the victims’ room and ignited a fire with a matchstick, while her son, Victor Oloro; his wife, Rachael, and their children, Toluwani and Blessing, were all in the house and deeply asleep in the wee hours of the fateful day.

The ensuing inferno did so much damage to the family members that the doctors at the Federal Medical Center, in Owo, could not salvage the situation when their neighbours rescued and rushed them to the facility.

The grandchildren are still hospitalised at the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Killer grandma dies

Reports from the family members indicated that the grandma died a few days after she was rushed to the hospital.

She reportedly died at the Federal Medical Center, in Owo, where she was equally admitted for treatment, having sustained some degrees of burns during the inferno.

How she perpetrated the devilish act

An eyewitness, who narrated the sad incident, Korede Michael, said: “We saw the house on fire around 2:00 am and had to break the window to rescue everyone in the house.

“The woman, her son, Victor Oloro; wife, Rachael and children, Toluwani and Blessing, were all in the house when the woman set it on fire.

“She got some dry palm fronds and the little petrol her son kept in a gallon (for generator), pour it around the house and then put fire to it.”

Grandma attempted suicide last year in protest

Neighbours alleged that the grandmother had attempted to commit suicide last year after her complaints were not listened to by the son.

A neighbour, who narrated the incident, said: “In 2022, the grandmother had attempted suicide by jumping into a well, but was quickly rescued by neighbours who were around in the house.

“After the attempted suicide, the family members held a meeting and decided to relocate the old woman back to her village, but she refused to insist that the house his son and his family members were living in was built by her late husband.

“That was the main reason she couldn’t be sent packing after she began to behave strangely in the house.

“Other family members pleaded with the son to keep tolerating her until she decided to terminate the lives of the entire family members of the son.”

My target was my daughter-in-law

Grandma Iforiti, during interrogation by police detectives, regretted her action and confessed that her target was her daughter-in-law, who deliberately starved her of food.

Police sources told Vanguard that the suspect, who regretted her action, claimed that she wanted to kill her daughter-in-law, Rachael, not her son, Victor Oloro and grandchildren.

She claimed that she had an axe to grind with the daughter-in-law, who deliberately starved her of food in the house, despite the provisions made by her son.

Why she starved me of food

The deceased grandma told police detectives that her daughter-in-law maltreated her and punished her by starving her of food when due to the feelings that she would pack out of the house in annoyance.

Police sources, who spoke with Vanguard, said: “She decided to punish me by starving me of food. She believed that after starving me for some time, I will leave the house for her. But she has forgotten that the house her family members are living in was built by my late husband and me.

“Nobody can eject me from the house my late husband built with his sweat. It’s just not possible. She wanted her husband and their family to take over the house after I might have left in annoyance.”

I overreacted

She said that she overreacted to the ill-treatment she received from her daughter-in-law.

“She expressed regret that her son also died in the inferno and that if she knew this would happen; she would have found a way to ensure that her son did not sleep in the same room with the wife that day.

“She regretted not separating the son and her grandchildren before setting the house on fire.”

The police source told Vanguard that the grandma did not regret killing her daughter-in-law.

She said that the daughter-in-law was her target, not other family members.

“It is a sad story; the grandmother that set the family of her son ablaze has joined her son and wife that died in the inferno.

“More saddening is that they left the grandchildren with nobody to cater for them. Their parents are dead, and now the grandmother, who ought to take care of them after the death of their parents, has equally died.

“The grandma, out of annoyance, has thrown the entire family into mourning. It’s a sad ending.

“I am sure the grandma couldn’t stand the pains she had caused the family and her death has put paid to her devilish act. Because I don’t know how she would’ve coped after her ungodly act.

“Her death has covered her shame because she wouldn’t have been able to live for long if she was still alive after what she did. The shame would have eventually killed her.”

2 grandchildren survived—Police

Speaking on the ugly incident, the spokesperson of the Ondo Police Command, Funmi Odunlami, said that the two grandchildren, Toluwani and Blessing, survived the inferno.

Odunlami said: “Only the couple died in the inferno. The two grandchildren were injured but they are alive and responding to treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Owo.”

Grandma’s son promises to take custody of the kids

A family source confided in Vanguard that another son of the late grandma has volunteered to take custody of the two children after they might have been discharged from the hospital.

Mr Oyakhilome Bello, APC United States National Youth Leader, says the call by some individuals to protest the emergence of Sen. Bola Tinubu as President-elect on April 3 in the U.S has no merit.

Bello, who is also the Deputy Director North America Youth Wing Campaign Council, said this in a statement on Friday.

He described as baseless, the protest against Tinubu’s emergence by some opposition groups at a park in front of the White House on Thursday, saying such protest would produce no result.

He said the protest had no weight because the Feb. 25, presidential election that produced Tinubu as the president-elect was free, fair and credible, adding that the former two-term Lagos State governor won the election squarely.

He advised Nigerians not to be worried about the development but to remain calm and peaceful as the APC would mobilise genuine Nigerians to counter the protest and work to protect Tinubu’s mandate.

Bello said the chapter would work to ensure that those protesting against Tinubu’s emergence as president-elect would not succeed in their mission to disrupt Nigeria’s peace and stability.

He called on all patriotic Nigerians to join hands to work for the country’s unity and peace, and to support Tinubu and Vice-president elect, Sen. Kashim Shettima to enthrone a better Nigeria for all.

He added that there was no mandate stolen as being alleged by opposition parties, because the Nigerian electorate freely gave their mandate to Tinubu at the poll.

“The election is therefore, a true reflection of the voice of the majority, even though there were some identified flaws during the election that can always be improved on.

“The United States is a defender of democracy around the globe, there is no perfect election anywhere in the world and the flaws identified in the just concluded Nigeria’s election can only be improved on.

“The majority of Nigerian voters gave Tinubu their mandate, and no manipulation, propaganda or tissue of lies can stop his inauguration on May 29,” Bello said.

He described as unpatriotic, those calling for the establishment of an Interim National Government as being proposed by some individuals.

He said such individuals do not have Nigeria’s interest at heart, adding that Tinubu would be sworn in on May 29 by God’s grace as the country’s 16th president

The Chairman and Convener of Progressives’ Solidarity for Asiwaju, Chief Ibrahim Emokpaire, on Friday assured that Nigeria would be out of the woods under the administration of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.

Emokpaire gave the assurance in a statement in Abuja while congratulating Tinubu on his 71st birthday.

He said Tinubu had garnered enough experience to rescue the country from its current socio-economic challenges.

He said, "He has the wherewithal to take our country out of the woods because he has done that in the past as governor of Lagos state.

“He will assemble the best brains in different sectors and fields to work with, and our country will regain its old lost glory and take its place in the comity of nations.”

Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Dingyadi has inaugurated the 16-member Governing Board of Police Academy (POLAC) after President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval.

The appointees, comprising stakeholders from the security agency and the academia, were inaugurated at the Ministry of Police Affairs, Headquarters in Abuja.

Dingyadi reaffirms the President’s commitment to bequeath a reformed, professionalized and motivated Force with a view to institutionalizing proactive policing.

The minister said POLAC encourages the advancement of learning and to avail officers the opportunity to acquire higher and liberal education without discrimination of sex, political, religious, or ethnic affiliation.

The institution took off in 1988 at two temporary campuses; Police Training School Challawa in Kano, where cadet Inspectors were trained; and Police College in Kaduna, where cadet ASPs were trained.

“The campuses were merged and relocated to the permanent site in Wudil, Kano, after the commissioning on the 2nd April 1996.

“The institution was upgraded to a degree-awarding institution in September 2012,” Dingyadi added.

Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Baba Alkali pledged the commitment of the council, adding that the academy continues to produce fine police officers in various fields of study.

The new board is expected to fully operationalize the provisions of the Police Academy (Establishment) Act 2021 signed into law by the President on April 7, 2022.

Also known as Nigeria Police Academy Council, the board supervises the policies, finances and property of the academy; approves courses and programmes; promotes and disciplines staff, among others.