Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has asked the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja to declare him as the rightful winner of the February 25 presidential election.

Obi is also demanding the disqualification of the All Progressives Congress, APC Candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his Running Mate, Kashim Shettima, for being wrongfully nominated.

The LP flag bearer’s petition was  filed by a team of lawyers comprising over a dozen Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), that include Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, Awa Kalu, Onyechi Ikpeazu, Constitutional lawyer, Chief Sebastian Hon, and Jibrin Okutepa,

The former Anambra state Governor claimed in his petition that he, and not the Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu scored the majority of lawful votes cast at the Presidential poll.

The petition marked: CA/PEPC/03/2023 and filed by Dr. Uzoukwu, SAN, is predicated on three grounds amongst which are that: Tinubu, as at the time of the election, was not qualified to contest the election; the election of Tinubu was invalid because of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and that Tinubu was not duly elected by the majority of the lawful votes cast at the Presidential Election.

While Obi and the Labour Party are the petitioners in the suit dated March 20, 2023, INEC, Tinubu, his Vice-president-elect, Kasheem Shetima and the APC are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respondents respectively.

In the first round of the petition, Obi and LP are arguing that the nomination of Shetima as Vice President was done in violation of the law and as such should be disqualified.

"The Petitioners aver that on July 14, 2022, the 3rd Respondent, contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, whilst still being a Senatorial candidate for Borno Central Constituency, knowingly allowed himself to be nominated as the Vice Presidential Candidate to the 2nd Respondent on the platform of the 4th Respondent and became the new Candidate for the office of the Vice President on that date (14 July 2022).

"The Petitioners shall rely on Form EC11A signed by the 3rd Respondent and the officials of the 4th  Respondent on that same July 14, 2022.

According to the petitioners, at the time Shetima purportedly became a Vice Presidential Candidate, he was still the nominated Senatorial Candidate of the APC for the Senatorial election for the Borno Central Senatorial Constituency.

"It is also the Petitioners’ case that a candidate, in this case, the 3rd Respondent, shall not knowingly allow himself to be nominated in more than one constituency.

"The Petitioners shall contend at the trial that the purported sponsorship of the 2nd and 3rd Respondents by the 4th Respondent was rendered invalid by reason of the 3rd Respondent knowingly allowing himself to be nominated as the Vice Presidential Candidate whilst he was still a Senatorial Candidate for the Borno Central Constituency.

"The Petitioners shall further contend that for this reason, the votes purportedly recorded for the 2nd Respondent at the contested Presidential election were/are wasted votes and ought to be disregarded".

In addition, Obi and LP are insisting that Tinubu also "at the time of the election was not qualified to contest for election to the office of President as he was fined the sum of $460,000.00 (Four-Hundred und Sixty Thousand United States Dollars) for an offense involving dishonesty, namely narcotics trafficking imposed by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Case No: 93C 4483.

Among documents they intend to tender in proving their claim include; a) Verified Complaint for Forfeiture, submitted by Michael J. Shepard (United States Attorney) and signed by Marsha A. McClellan (Assistant United States Attorney);

b) Stipulations and Compromise Settlement of Claims to the Funds held by Heritage Bank and CitiBank; and
c) Decree of Forfeiture as to Funds held by First Heritage Bank, signed by United States District Judge, John A. Nordberg.

“In the alternative to 2 above an order canceling the election and compelling INEC to conduct a fresh election in which Tinubu, Shettima, and APC shall not participate.

“In the alternative to 1,2,3 above, I) that it may be determined that Tinubu was not duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast in the election for the office of the President and  therefore, the declaration and return of the 2nd Respondent as the winner of the Presidential Election’ are unlawful, unconstitutional and of no effect whatsoever.

The Source Magazine
https://thesourceng.com/declare-me-winner-of-presidential-election-peter-obi-asks-tribunal-says-tinubu-shettima-not-qualified/

By Comfort Obi

Just so I don't jump the gun, I have simple questions which answers I urgently seek.

Has the Igbo leadership heard of and/or watched the viral video of the humiliation of the  Igbo  who do their businesses at Alaba International Market Lagos? And, if so, do  the Igbo still have leaders?  You know, Governors, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, respected Traditional Rulers, real Religious Leaders?  - not those who see visions everyday and perform "miracles" every second.

If they do, as I sincerely believe, such people should speak up now. If they don't, there is no other conclusion to reach than to say they play to the gallery when they talk about the marginalization of the Igbo, the unfairness and the injustices meted out against the Igbo. It means they just talk for the fun of it.

It is not that this is the first time the Igbo will  be humiliated, and/or discriminated against in Lagos, but what happened on Thursday to the Alaba International Market Traders stinks to high heavens. It is scandalous. It is an unprovoked attack against a people.

I have never been to that market before in my over 20 years in Lagos. But its reputation precedes it. It is the melting point of all electronics in Nigeria and, I understand, West Africa. Any electronic  one does not find in Alaba, one should forget it. The traders there, "big boys and girls", make an obscene amount of money every day. The money they make helps to keep the Lagos State economy running.  They are responsible citizens.

I understand that they are mostly Igbo. Hard working, they don't know about sit-at-home orders which would, definitely, affect the economy of Lagos just as it has grounded, almost, the economy of the South-east where they are from. Even if they wanted to observe it, they will not be allowed to. ...Read More

In a space of one week, former Governor of Imo State, has had two political loses.

Fresh from losing, woefully, his N100m deposit in the All Progressives Congress Presidential Primary where he scored zero votes, Okorocha has again been dealt a heavy political blow by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The Apex Court has affirmed Dr MacDonald Ebere, as the authentic Chairman of the Imo State Chapter of the APC.

By this judgement, the Court has pulled the rug from under the feet of the Okorocha-backed factional Chairman, Dan Nwafor, and thrown out the judgement from the lower Courts which declared him Chairman. ....Read More

For the former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, it is not just raining, it is pouring. It is like one day one trouble, and it couldn't be worse.

The EFCC, on Wednesday, announced it has secured a forfeiture order on a number of properties belonging to him and his wife, Nkechi.

Also affected in the forfeiture order is a hospital belonging to the former Principal Secretary to Okorocha, Dr Paschal Obi.

The forfeited properties will be handed to the Imo State Government, and its people at the end of the day. Read More

Pictures speak louder than words.

When both the immediate past Governor and Deputy Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, and Prince Eze Madumere say they have been together for over 30 years, it is the absolute truth.

The attached photograph of both men confirms.

There they stood, years back, struggling, and thinking how to make it in life.

And they finally did, financially and politically.

As an icing on the cake, both ended up at......

https://thesourceng.com/okorocha-madumere-torn-apart-by-politics/

Na waoooo

The hopes of former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu to be re-appointed into the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari appear to have been dashed.

The writer cum politician , sources say is poised to return to government to fill the slot of Delta state in the administration.

Recall that Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina recently hinted that President Buhari will not delay in constituting his cabinet.

But few hours after that statement, President Buhari made the first appointment suggesting that he may have foreclosed the appointment of Kachikwu into his cabinet.

The appointment of Dr Thomas John.......

https://thesourceng.com/ministerial-list-buhari-dashes-kachikwu-hope/

In a strongly worded rebuke, the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, has told his successor in office, Adams Oshiomhole that: "Edo is not Lagos"

Both men were, also, former Governors of Edo state. But, there has been no love lost between them, especially, since Oshiomhole replaced Oyegun as the APC National Chairman in a not-too tidy manner. In what was seen by many as a palace coup, Oyegun was forced out of the high profile office in favour of Oshiomhole.

The I-don't-care relationship between them became public since...........

https://thesourceng.com/edo-is-not-lagos-apc-may-lose-edo/

That the eight-year reign of Governor Rochas Okorocha left Imo State a wasteland is common knowledge to most Imo people.

Our people are not stupid. Indeed, they are witnesses to the vandalism callously meted against their state.

They are also aware of the vicious vendetta Okorocha unleashed on our mother land in the two months after he lost the guber election.

Since he never planned for an exit, the loss at the polls sent him into what one wants to describe as a paroxysm of plunderation. It’s something that is also called scorch earth policy in war: which means that you don’t just conquer an enemy, you raze him to dust.

Okorocha did not only conquer Imo, he tried to......

https://thesourceng.com/rochas-okorocha-left-imo-state-a-wasteland/

According to Hon. Emeka Nwajiuba, Member, House of Representatives, (Ehime Mbano/Ihitte, Uboma/Obowo), for at least, two reasons,  the South East should be happy with President Muhammadu Buhari.

One, contrary to the general belief in the zone, Nwajiuba says Mr. President does not hate  the Igbo. He loves them. You know, when the Nigerian President loves a people, it is a big deal. He remembers them when the national cake is being shared.

They will not be victims of the 97%/ five per cent sharing formular of 2015, irrespective of who they voted for.

They will be like  Abuja residents  who the President  told this other day that even though they didn't  vote for him in the 2019 Presidential election, he would not punish them for their audacity. He would look after them, he promised. 

So, you see, the Igbo have a reason to celebrate.

The second reason, Nwajiuba revealed is that, again, contrary to what the Igbo think, it was not the President who shut them out from being part of the National Assembly Leadership.

The President, he insists,  from the bottom of his heart, sincerely wanted an Igbo to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Proof: He spoke to former Imo state Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, to allow a level playing ground during the APC Primary to the House of Representatives. But Okorocha, can you imagine this, ignored......Read More

https://thesourceng.com/ndigbo-speakership-questions-for-nwajiuba/

Credible sources have informed this Magazine that the European Union's final Report on the 2019 general elections which was made public last week is causing goose pimples among the top brass in the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Among other things, the report cast slur on the electoral umpire's conduct of the polls and its credibility.

The EU report also indicated the elections were not free and fair.

INEC is finding it difficult to explain......Read More

https://thesourceng.com/jitters-in-inec-commission-ponders-options/

The objective fact is that Adams Oshiomhole neither has any sense of history nor the vision to lead a progressive party.

Instead of fortifying the cardinal principles of the APC, which promote inclusiveness, diversity of opinion, and mass empowerment, the only vision Nigerians have seen from the former union activist is a clannish agenda commonly spewed out with a cascade of vulgar vanity, temper tantrums, and sheer shenanigans.

The solution is to surgically remove Oshiomhole from every sphere of public leadership before........

https://thesourceng.com/second-term-oshiomhole-as-a-governing-cancer/

The attack on Seidu Oshiomhole, younger brother of the National Chairman of ruling All Progressives Congress, APC Adams Oshiomhole on Tuesday, by unknown thugs presents a new twist to the supremacy battle between the former governor of the state and his successor, Godwin Obaseki.

Seidu and 14 other lawmakers of the state house of assembly were beaten up by thugs suspected to be angry with the former governor of the state.

They were attacked in a hotel as they were reportedly holding a meeting.

Sources told the magazine that the meeting was necessitated by the Monday midnight inauguration of nine members of the new parliament and subsequent election of Frank Okiye as the Speaker.

Okiye, representing Esan North East Constituency I became speaker against Victor Edoro who’s the preferred........

https://thesourceng.com/edo-obaseki-oshiomhole-in-fight-to-finish/

Even though not a word has been heard from President Muhammadu Buhari, three weeks after his inauguration on the composition of his cabinet or key aides, multiple sources inform The Source that a new Chief of Staff to the President has been penciled down.

Barring any last minute changes, we gathered, Adamu Adamu, the immediate past Minister for Education, will occupy the high profile office.

If true, Adamu will be replacing Abba Kyari, Buhari's friend and ally. Kyari has been on the position since 2015.

Adamu, journalist, a former newspaper columnist, accomplished administrator, and accountant, has been a very close ally and extremely loyalist of the President. He has been a Buharist for.......

https://thesourceng.com/adamu-adamu-to-be-pmbs-new-chief-of-staff/

If the Roman Catholic Pontif, Pope Francis, has his way at the soon to be held Amazon Synod, and bearing any last minute change of mind, there will be a major shift in the Roman Catholic Church.

Married men will be ordained Priests. Roman Catholic Priests, as a matter of religious doctrine, are celibate.

But the Pope wants to change all that, citing what he says is a shortage of Priests as the reason why.

This ordination of married men with children might kick off (first) in the remote Amazon areas.

The Vatican says it is considering the ordination of elderly married men as Priests in that area because because of the shortage of Priests.

Apparently, enough young men are not very interested in being celibate bcause they are Priests. Ordaining elderly married men Priests seems the only way to fill the vacuum.

If this is pulled through, it will be a historic shift in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

The idea was raised in 2015, when it was published in details in the Pontif’s.......

https://thesourceng.com/pope-to-ordain-married-men-priests/amp/

good idea

Hon Emeka Nwajiuba, the Hon. Member, representing Ehime Mbano/Ihitte, Uboma/Obowo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, has revealed why the Igbo lost out in the Speakership of the House.

In a one page advert entitled ‘Appreciation To All For Your Support’, carried in the Sunday Vanguard of June 14, Nwajiuba revealed that the Igbo were denied the Speakership by the immediate past governor of Imo state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

Nwajiuba, a confidante of President Muhammadu Buhari, and until he was sworn in as a member of ……….

https://thesourceng.com/how-okorocha-denied-ndigbo-the-speakership-of-the-house-hon-nwajiuba/amp/

The chances of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, ever being in power in Lagos continues to wane every day.

Aside from losing a number of its officers and other members to the ruling party in the state, the APC, its two top chieftains, Chief Bode George and Jimi Agbaje are at each other's throat, thus exposing the under-belly of the party.

George was the Party's former National Deputy Chairman, and Agbaje, its governorship candidate.

Agbaje was George's political godson. But no longer. He is, rather, better, derisively…..

https://thesourceng.com/bode-george-agbaje-scatter-pdp-as-they-expose-each-other/amp/

Immediate past Minister for Transport, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, is sure to make the list of President Muhammadu Buhari's cabinet for the second time. This, inspite of the many controversies the former Minister got involved in.

One of such controversies was an alleged stinging criticism of the President by Amaechi which video went viral on the social media. But, by far, the most damning is the crises which engulfed the Rivers state branch of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and denied it the fielding of any candidate in the 2019 general elections, except the office of the President. Amaechi and Senator Magnus Abe, his one time political associate, are jointly held responsible for the fate that befell the party in the state.

Said a source:"Since the leadership of the Rivers APC by Amaechi, there has been no........

https://thesourceng.com/buharis-cabinet-why-amaechi-is-a-sure-banker-ambodes-has-k-leg/

A surprise is waiting for Imolites on the day the state Governor, His Excellency, Hon Emeka Ihedioha will inaugurate the House of Assembly.
Same day, members will also elect their presiding officers - Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
The Assembly held its Valedictory session on Monday, June 10. It was presided over by its less- than one month Speaker, Hon Chinedu Offor.
It was at that session that the foundation of who will be the Speaker when the new Assembly is inaugurated was laid.
Six Lawmakers decamped from their political parties to the ruling party in the state, the PDP. Five of them were from the Action Alliance, AA, a party founded by the out-gone governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, and under which his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu contested for the governorship election. He was defeated by Ihedioha.

The members who decamped from the AA are: Mike Iheanaetu (Aboh Mbaise), Ukoha Bruno ( Ezinihitte Mbaise), Victor Onyewuchi (Owerri west), Ken Agbim (Ahiazu Mbaise), and Lloyd Chukwuemeka (Owerri North)

The sixth decampee, Chiji Collins, (Isiala Mbano) is from the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA. He is the star decampee.

His defection to the PDP did not just happen, this magazine gathered. It was a strategic well-thought out plan, a reliable source disclosed. On the day of inauguration, bearing any last minute changes, Hon Collins will be elected the Speaker of the Assembly, and automatically, the state's number three man.
What cleared the path for him is that the three top positions in the state - Governor, Deputy Governor, Speaker of the House - are usually shared between the three Senatorial zones of Owerri, Orlu and Okigwe.

In this dispensation, the governor, Ihedioha, is from Owerri. His deputy, Hon. Gerald Irona, is from Orlu. Unfortunately, the ruling party, the PDP, won no seat in Okigwe zone. Most, of the seats were won........

https://thesourceng.com/imo-apga-decampee-to-be-speaker-as-five-lawmakers-desert-uche-nwosu/

My dad, victim of complex conspiracy – Kola Abiola

Twenty-six years after the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, which was won by Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, his first son and present head of the extended Abiola family, Kola Abiola, has opened up on his father’s struggle to win the election and reclaim his mandate after the results were cancelled.

In this exclusive interview with The Sun team in his Lagos residence, he revealed what transpired behind the scenes before, during and after the annulled election and the role played by different persons and interest groups.

He said, contrary to widely held beliefs, Abiola never nominated anybody into the regime of the late General Sani Abacha, and explained that some of his father’s former allies who chose to serve the late dictator had already decided to be part of his regime and his father could not stop them.

Kola Abiola also denied accusations by some family members who alleged that they were living in penury because he cut off funds meant for them, saying he would soon address those allegations with facts.

June 12 has been recognised as Democracy Day in honour of the election your father won. How does it make you feel when you look back?

For me, it is the end of a long journey. We started this journey in 1991 at the Hilton Hotel after I sat down with my father’s personal assistant back then, Olu Akerele, who was trying to convince me to participate in the election. At the very beginning, I was not involved; I knew what my father was planning, but I just carried on like I didn’t know what was going on because he didn’t tell me directly. As a family, we had an understanding that he would let the Ibrahim Babangida transition programme go before we participate in any election. It was not the case of whether we should go into the contest or not; we wanted the transition to go through before we participated. I guess after a lot of pressure, he then went to Abeokuta to get the form to contest for the election.

Where were you on the night Abiola was arrested? Did you anticipate his arrest?

Yes I did. There was a particular day that we got supposedly credible information that they were going to raid the house and arrest him and the idea was for him to go to the American embassy to take refuge. When I was told about the plan to arrest him, I said, well, he is in his house; let us see what will happen, but my family members felt I wasn’t taking the issue very seriously. They said they wanted him to go to the American embassy and I asked why. I couldn’t convince anybody that it was a set up. So, we got ready for him to go to the embassy and when I saw lots of people around him, I then asked that if we are going to the embassy, why the convoy? I told them to leave him to me that I would personally drive him there.

On our way, I told him that the whole set-up didn’t seem right because if I shot him there, people wouldn’t blame me, they would blame IBB. So, in order not to trivialise the issue, he should come and stay in my house. He agreed and we headed back to Anthony, where I lived, and he spent the night in my house. The following morning, all the papers carried reports that he was at the American embassy and my father told me that I was right that the entire American embassy thing was a set-up.

When the issue of declaring himself president came up, I told him it was not a good idea but that if he insisted, he should make sure that every single person who suggested it to him would all be physically present when the declaration was made. I told him to announce his cabinet and let all of those cabinet members be there with him while he made his declaration. I told him that if they were not willing to do this, it tells us that something is wrong. He said okay, so I went home. The next thing I heard was that he was on his way there; then I knew that there was a problem.

Was he hurt when Kingibe joined Abacha’s government? Did he feel betrayed?

It didn’t surprise him because I had already told him. Knowing what I had known, I met my father in his room and told him to handle the situation right because if he didn’t, we would be the biggest losers. He then asked me what I meant. I pointed out people around him who were already gone; so he wasn’t surprised when it happened.

When my father was arrested after the declaration, I went to see Abacha and I must say that he received me well. He asked me why my father declared himself President; I told him it was not a matter of why, but that the deed had been done already. I asked him what the way forward was and he said if I was able to correct it, that he was willing to let everything go. By correcting things, he meant that I should come out publicly and tell the country that my father made a mistake by declaring himself President, but there was no way I would do that. I had to stand by my dad and that was the beginning of his four-year incarceration.

Your father once said Abacha kept him in an open grave and what was left was to bury him. During that period, what condition was he in?

We never saw him where he was incarcerated in those four years. When we went to visit him, we usually waited at the police headquarters sometimes for two weeks. They usually brought him to the station at old CBN and allowed him to stay with us for an hour or more.

How did you hear the news of his death?

They called us from Abuja collectively but, conveniently, I could not be found. So, other family members went. I indirectly heard that he had died and then I got a call from the Villa confirming it.

Did you see his body?

Yes, I saw it.

It must have been really terrible…

For me as the first son and the head of the family, I needed to be strong. They didn’t beat us and to do otherwise would make it look like we had been defeated. I went in there and saw the body and I asked if we could take him for burial. They told me that we had to go and meet with General Abdulsalami who pleaded that they should be allowed to carry out an autopsy. I initially said no because, as a Muslim, he should be buried immediately. But he pleaded and I later agreed and that was arranged. I had come to terms with it and, emotionally, I was strong because, before then, I had seen the death of my mum who died at 54.

Do you believe he was murdered or do you think he died a natural death?

I think that is very irrelevant, to be honest. If you know my father well enough, he walked with a first aid kit. He knew his body so well and when anything was out of order, he hopped into a plane and demanded to be taken to his doctor. If he walked past a clinic, he would stop and tell you to take his blood pressure. Now, if you lock up such a man for four years without getting him medical attention, you have already killed him. You don’t need to put a gun to his head or poison his tea, which was what he meant when he said Abacha had locked him in a coffin. We all knew he had high blood pressure, so it’s a given that such a person should have had frequent medical attention.

I think, at a point, we were successful in getting him to go for treatment but then his lawyer came and decided to challenge the conditional release that was brokered. I did not see the sense in that. Would you also blame his lawyer for being part of the conspiracy or not? Abacha even said on live TV that he didn’t know what my father’s lawyer was doing but that he certainly wasn’t working for the government. You can go and check the clip.

At a point in time, we heard that you were married to IBB’s daughter. Was it true?

I think they put the cart before the horse; we never got married. I had known her way before politics and, if I wanted to, I would have married her long before the election, but it would not have made any sense because it would have looked like an arranged thing. One day, I was at a function and Baba Ayo Adebanjo accused me of not participating in what they were doing because I was collecting contracts from the government to print election materials. I told him that I was not involved in any contracts but that, even if I was, were the contracts not Nigerian contracts and am I not a Nigerian? His allegations were false. I grew up with his kids in Surulere, so for him to tell me that in front of people was embarrassing.


How many children do you think he had?

You can’t count the number of children one has. There was a lot of uniqueness in MKO; to him, nothing is a mistake. It may look like an excessive thing but, over the years, it turned out well. I have a sister married to a Deltan. I am married to a Deltan. I have a sister married to the Ijebu. I have a brother married to an American. I have a brother married to the Kanuri. I have a brother married to someone from Zimbabwe and, before you know it, we would be presidents all over the world. We don’t joke around.

Has the acrimony in your family been resolved? One of your siblings accused you in the media recently that you are not letting them have the opportunity to run the businesses and that the businesses are in ruins.

I’m glad you brought it up. All these businesses did not start in one day but the government shut everything down in one day. A lot of these businesses were created by the eldest of Abiola’s children; Deji, me and others. My sentiment is totally different from any other kid who was just there spending money. If I was like them, I would have sold everything and nobody would query me but I need to leave a legacy beyond the fact that our father was a philanthropist and a creator of value added wealth. I kept quiet because it is a family issue and my responsibility is not to put the family out there. But it has gotten to a point that something has to be said, not so much because of them but because I now have kids and they are grown up and would also have their own kids and people would ask them questions about what they have been told about their father. I don’t play sentiments at all; so I am going to come forward with facts to show all that they are doing.

Has the debt owed your father been paid?

No it hasn’t.

How much is it now?

If you consider the interest accrued, it should be approximately $400 million and that is from one business alone. We are still in the process of recovering the money. I have cleared the June 12 issue, but I will now face the debt recovery issue squarely in the next four years.

It’s been said that while he was alive, MKO was one of the richest black men in the world, but then you read statements from his family members complaining that they cannot even afford to feed. Is it not a contradiction? Are his assets outside the country still intact?

Let them all go and get busy. Like I said, I would have to address this issue. There were so many things I had to do outside the businesses just to make sure things go on smoothly.

Did he have a will?

Yes, he had a will, which ought to have been executed by the bank, but the bank rejected executing it; so I had to take it on. We are still in the process but in the mean time, we had so many people suing over which will is fake and which is real. They said it was my idea but the truth of the matter is that when the man was alive, those kids were made to take DNA tests. Was I also the one that asked for it? The kids that took the blood test know and their mothers know that their kids took blood tests. Even in his will, he named a particular child from a particular woman, saying the child was not his. How would he have known if he didn’t do a blood test when he was alive? Is that also my making? All the payments to the wives and brothers have been made but when they were collecting the money, they didn’t tell me that it was a fake will. What is left to my mum, I couldn’t even collect because she died before my dad.

Let me ask you an unfair question. Who was your favourite between your parents?

My mum moulded me, but my dad was my favourite. I could tell him anything. He began taking me for board meetings at a very tender age. He will tell me to sit at a corner while the meeting was going on. Whenever he looked at me, he knew exactly what I was thinking and vice versa. It didn’t start with my dad; it started with my grandfather. I was the first grandson on both sides. He was the Balogun of Ojo and a very tough man. He also allowed me to sit at meetings and that was how I learned many things.

What role did Bola Tinubu play in all of these?

At the very beginning, he was part of the Yar’Adua PF group from Jos. He was a senator then, and as far as the group went, we related. The crisis started post-election. When Abacha came, one of the things he wanted to do was to be the administrator for Lagos.

That is Tinubu?

Yes. I am sure you have seen pictures of him and my dad. He was hoping that there would be civilian administrators like we had under IBB but Abacha said no, that he was going to have military administrators. So he (Tinubu) said okay, in that case, can I be a deputy administrator? But Abacha said that there wouldn’t be deputies. Then he wanted the post of a commissioner.

He wanted to be a commissioner?

Yes. Then it was a choice between him and someone very close to Jakande who has passed on now. I can’t remember his name, but because Babagana was already in the government, that guy was picked as commissioner. But really, Senator Tinubu had lost out already.

Was Tinubu very close to MKO?

Yes, he was close enough. He and Adeniyi Adele, a very good guy, were close to my father. In fact, Adeniyi was closer to my father and more dedicated to the process than anyone of them. When my documentary comes out, you will see Tinubu’s take on issues. So once he lost out, automatically, he became a NADECO member and Adeniyi was incarcerated.


Do you think NADECO was actually working for Abiola?

Some were working for him. It is sort of like a pyramid. The bottom is used to feed the top; like a ponzi scheme. The bottom generates all the funds and comes all the way up and then they enjoy the loot. It is exactly the same process. In the process of taking the public sentiments of ‘oh, we want June 12’, they all appeared as if they were supporting MKO.

We heard some of the people the media celebrates today fed fat on the June 12 struggle. Don’t you feel sorry for the media when you read about such people because we really didn’t know what happened behind the scenes?

If you take the Yar’Adua group as an instance, which was the first lesson I learned, you never see their guys in the news. But you see all the PSP people all over the news, yet they could not win in their local governments. The Yar’Adua guys never spoke in the news but they were all very formidable in their own enclaves; they delivered on everything. If they tell you that they have 10 numbers, they will deliver on eight of that 10 for sure. See what happened in Lagos with Sarumi; those were the guys that were holding the horns of the bull. All the other guys were making noise in the media.

Between June 12 and July 7 when he died, which date is more important?

June 12.

Why?

Because it is a national date. That date signifies a lot of things that does not exist today. First, he had a Muslim-Muslim ticket, which meant that religious bigotry is out of the window. We had a South West person

country and people voted for him across ethnic groups. That date will always be relevant in this country as long as Nigeria remains one because it is the day the country came together as one tribe, irrespective of religion or ethnicity. My plea is that under the leadership of President Buhari, that irrespective of where we are coming from, we must come together and stop all the killings and the ethnic division. On June 12, people voted for a man that represented a true detribalised Nigerian. That is the significance of why he got the GCFR, anyway. When I started this process and the Jonathan government felt they could name University of Lagos (UNILAG) after him, I told the government that MKO was not a South Western man. Jonathan missed it because we already had Moshood Abiola Polytechnic in Ogun State and we have a stadium there named after him.

Did you deal with Arthur Nzeribe at all?

I did. I mentioned him earlier as part of the governors’ group.

But he wasn’t a governor.

He wasn’t, but he and the late Olusola Saraki were part of the core of the governors’ group. When they went to court and got that adjournment to stop the election, I found a way to get the information across through the system that we were going to lose the election and that was how I truncated their move to stop the election.

From what you have said, we understand that Babangida didn’t want to go

That is my take, or rather, he didn’t know how he would go.

The second point we deduced from what you said is that Abacha played the double game. He promised to help MKO and he believed him.

Absolutely. He also put pressure on Babangida to go.

What role did Diya play as the most senior person from the South West in Abacha’s government? Did you have any interface with him?

I also interviewed him for the documentary to give him the chance to state his own side. When Abacha passed on and he was released from prison, I went and welcomed him and I told him that it was good he went through that process, because if he had stayed with Abacha till he died, he may not have been alive today. Or he may not be able to come back to the South West without being lynched. And he looked at me and said he thought he could come in quietly to Lagos but that he was shocked at the reception he received. It was the imprisonment process that cleansed Diya but God has a way of showing his power. I said what I said from what I know.


Would you consider serving under Buhari?

Honestly, I don’t know. I have a few years to round off the family issues. I am 57 years old now and I don’t want to get to 60 without resolving these issues. I have made a commitment to resolve the issues, including the legitimate outstanding debts owed the family and I only have three years to achieve that.

Source: https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2019/06/12/my-dad-victim-of-complex-conspiracy-kola-abiola/

Femi Gbajabiamila, immediate past Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, beat all odds to emerge the Speaker of the House, an office he also ran for in 2015, but lost to the immediate past Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.

He is to be assisted by Hon Ahmed Idris Wase, who was elected unopposed, as the Deputy Speaker. Both men are from Lagos and Plateau states respectively.

Even though both men were their party's endorsed and officially backed candidate, it did not stop Hon Mohammed Bagu from challenging him to the Speakership office.

Even though Gbajabiamila won with a landslide, securing 282 votes out of the 358 votes cast, the road to that victory was rough.

To win, Gbaja, as he is fondly called, fought off serious allegations of perjury, misconduct and of, having been convicted in Georgia, USA.

The opposition PDP had, on the eve of the election, backed.......

https://thesourceng.com/against-all-odds-gbajabiamila-is-speaker-how-dogara-helped/

It was the D-Day at the Senate Chambers of the National Assembly, NASS. Senators-elect, after weeks of lobbying and horse-trading, were ready to elect two of their colleagues to the office of the Senate President, SP, and the Deputy Senate President, DSP.

Millions of Nigerians stayed glued to thier television and radio sets. Expectations were high.

The contestants, five for both positions, were all of the ruling party at the centre, APC, except Ike Ekweremadu, the immediate past DSP, who was a suprise contestant to the position he had held for 12 years.

In 2015, he and his party, the PDP, pulled a suprise when he snatched that position from the APC under the Senate Presidency of Dr Bukola Saraki. When he accepted to run again.......

https://thesourceng.com/nass-pdp-betrays-itself-sells-out-to-apc-disgraces-ekweremadu/

Less than 24 hours to the inauguration of the ninth National Assembly, several Senate and People's Democratic party, PDP sources have informed this magazine that the two APC contenders for the Senate Presidency- Senators Ali Ndume and Ahmed Lawan have both acceded to the Party's (PDP) condition for support: The return of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President.

One of the sources described Senator Lawan's boast of having been endorsed by 62 Senators as hogwash.

"He is just engaging in a mind game.Senator Lawan is just humouring himself. With PDP's 52 Senators largely voting as a bloc and about 25 APC Senators not favourably disposed to his aspiration, where did he get the 62 Senators?",he queried.

Another source described him as being "imaginative"

"Distinguished Senator Lawan is imaginative, he is simply creating imaginations.The 60 something Senators he talked about only exist in his imagination", he said.

Having secured the Deputy Senate Presidency, the opposition party, The Source has learnt, is now torn between the choice of Ndume and Lawan. Pro-Ndume PDP senators are canvassing support for him on the ground that.........

https://thesourceng.com/senate-presidency-pdp-torn-between-ndume-ekweremadu-and-lawan-ekweremadu-ticket/

The South-east APC is grieving, and so are those politicians from the zone who worked across party lines to give President Muhammadu Buhari, at least, 25 per cent, in three of the zone's five states.

They did that, according to them, hoping that the zone would be rewarded with one of the first four positions in the National Assembly, NASS.

The positions are those of the President of the Seate, Deputy President of the Senate, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Zone was expectant, especially, as two of its sons and a daughter had shown more than a passing interest in the positions.

Orji Uzo Kalu, a former governor of Abia state, and a former member of the House of Representatives, now a Senator-elect, is strongly lobbying and canvassing for the position of the Deputy Senate President. Hon. Nkeiru Onyejiocha, a three-time member of the House and, Hon.Emeka Nwajiuba, Chairman of TETFUND, but now going to the House for the second time, are both lobbying for the position of the Speaker.

In fact, there had been rumours that Senator Ike Ekweremadu, immediate past Deputy Senate President, was being projected to pair with either of the two frontline APC candidate for the Senate Presidency - Senators Ahmed Lawan and Ali Ndume for the DSP position.

But, that's a long shot. If the resolution of the APC National Working Committee, NWC, last night, is anything to go by, none of that will happen. The South-east will come out empty-handed.........Read More

https://thesourceng.com/finally-south-east-loses-at-nass-as-apc-dumps-the-zone/

Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Abiola’s family will not be celebrating on June 12.

That day has been declared Democracy Day by the President Muhammadu Buhari led federal government, in memory of the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election later annulled by the military.

While Abiola’s children and relatives are still bracing up for the national holiday coming up next Wednesday, the Buhari’s government has hammered them with a big setback.

On Thursday, June 6 the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR finally revoked the oil mining license of Summit Oil International, one of the flagship oil prospecting.......Read More

https://thesourceng.com/june-12-mko-family-faces-hardship-as-fg-revokes-oil-license/

For former Governor of Imo state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, things are getting worse by the day.

Since May 29, 2019 when he left office, his loyalists and associates have been abandoning him almost on daily basis.

The most dramatic was the lmo House Assembly. Last week, in a most shocking manner, its members distanced themselves from almost all the decisions he took in the recent months.

Recall that for the eight years Okorocha was in office, he was hands in glove with the members. The IMHA was an extension of Okorocha's office. Anything he did was excellent.

Less than one week out of office, however, the members have regained their independence, and turned against Okorocha.

In a unanimous resolution last week, they asked the new governor.......Read More

https://thesourceng.com/imo-ihedioha-cages-okorocha-begins-full-blown-probe-of-his-regime/

Nigeria's Attorney General and Minister for Justice during the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, Adoke Bello, has dropped what could be called ‘Da Bomb’.

Adoke who has been on self-exile to fight off what he describes as persecution instead of prosecution by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, sensationally revealed that the prosecution of the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, was the handiwork of a Tinubu friend, who is also a well known Human Rights lawyer.

He also revealed how a presiding officer in the Senate called him to join a couple of others to contribute money......

https://thesourceng.com/how-tinubus-human-rights-lawyer-friend-set-him-up-for-trial/

The storms are far from over for the embattled National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Adam Oshiohmole. Multiple sources inform that forces against him have started shopping for his replacement.

"The position of National Chairman is zoned to the South south, so it will remain there but we are looking outside Edo for his replacement", one of the sources told The source.

Former Cross River state governor, Clement Ebri, immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom state, Senator Godswill Akpabio, former Edo governor, Osariemen Osunbor are among the South south APC chieftains, allegedly, being considered as Oshiomhole's replacement.

Bayelsa state former governor, Timipre Sylva who is ......

https://thesourceng.com/crisis-apc-shops-for-oshiohmoles-replacement/

Barely twenty four hours after Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission found the Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi II, guilty of misappropriation of N3.4 billion belonging to Kano Emirate, the Governor of Kano state, Umar Ganduje and Sanusi met during Sallah prayers at the just concluded Eid at the prayer ground, Kofar Mata, Kano.

This is the first time that both gladiators are seen shaking hands in public in recent times, after they became estranged due to mutual distrust. Sanusi was said to have vigorously worked for the removal of Ganduje during the 2019 governorship elections.

So it is believed that the travails of Sanusi is being instigated by Governor Ganduje due to the role played by the former during the 2019 elections. Ganduje won that election after a controversial rerun organized by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC

There has been various interpretations of the pictures going round, with analysts interpreting Sanusi's posture as.......

https://thesourceng.com/after-anti-graft-agency-recommended-his-suspension-sanusi-meets-ganduje-during-sallah/

One week after the inauguration of President Buhari for second term, he is yet to announce his cabinet, fueling speculations of a repeat of his first term delay that sent the nation into recession.

Buhari was sworn in on May 29th, 2019. He immediately flew out of the country for the Organization Of Islamic Countries, OIC, meeting. There he was vocal about the Palestinian cause, and had opportunities to meet the leaders of the Arab world.

The Nigerian traditional allies were absent during the inauguration.

His inaugural speech was absent at the swearing in, though it is believed that he shelved that in favor of June twelve, the new Democracy Day.

It took him six months to appoint ministers during his first term. Many of them ended up being dead woods, though he had indicated he did not place any premium on.........

https://thesourceng.com/one-week-after-inauguration-buhari-yet-to-announce-cabinet/

A British court has seized 211,000,000 million pounds looted by the former Nigerian dictator and military head of state, General Sani Abacha.

According to report by the UK Metro, the said money was seized from a Jersey bank account that belonged to General Abacha.

The money was put in accounts held in Jersey by Doraville Properties Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company.

The money worth £211,000,000 was laundered through the U.S. into the Channel Islands but eventually discovered and recovered.

The report said, “Money to the value of £211,000,000 has been seized from a Jersey bank......

https://thesourceng.com/british-court-seized-abachas-211-million-pounds-loot/