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Senator Babafemi Ojudu and His Piece on Sunday Igboho: My Nine Takeaways and Conclusions to be Drawn

By Kehinde Adegbite

25 January 2021


Ojudu

To start with, if you've not read Babafemi Ojudu's piece titled - "The Sunday Igboho I Knew" - go, look for it and read it.


When some of us heard many years ago that people like Mr Ojudu were joining politics, we thought they would make what we had always known as the "dirty Nigerian politics" clean so that it could become safe for decent people to come in but nothing much has changed (if anything has changed at all) since even his likes joined the club of "dirty" Nigerian politicians.


As an undergraduate, I used to buy The News magazine founded by him and others. I can't vividly remember again whether he was one of the columnists in the magazine but I think he must have been. I must have developed likeness for him on account of his writings in their magazine.


I never met him one on one until two years ago where he was a guest in a programme I anchored and both of us used the occasion to have some chats. I think he was still holding a political position in the Presidency then.


When I shared his latest and trending piece on my Timelines some minutes ago, a friend commented that this is a kind of thing that the writer should have left unsaid. She questioned the meaning and purpose of Senator Ojudu's piece.


Now, I have read the piece again and the following are the takeaways I find in it:


1. The Senator wants us to know that in 2009 when late President Musa Yar'dua was in power with his party, PDP, the use of state security personnel and thugs to rig elections was in vogue 


2. That PDP was desperate to win the Rerun Election in Ekiti State that year as much as Tinubu was.


3. That PDP was ready to spend money recklessly, to use state machinery, and thugs to its advantage in that election and Tinubu and his party, ACN, were ready to outspend PDP.


Igboho

4. That Tinubu was able to buy state security men who were as at that time subject to the orders of the PDP-led FG and Ekiti State to the side of ACN.


5. That Tinubu bought prominent PDP thugs over.


6. That Sunday Igboho is not as reliable as he may appear to portray himself. He could sell out. 


7. That Sunday Igboho eventually had a golden handshake with Tinubu and betrayed PDP, Baba Adedibu and co.


8. That Tinubu paid for all the rooms in all hotels in Ekiti State in order to prevent undesirable elements finding space in the state.


9. That ACN didn't make use of thugs in the Rerun Ekiti State election of that year but used money heavily.


Conclusions to be Drawn

***************************


Tinubu

In view of the above, these are the conclusions that I find logically irresistible to be drawn:


1. That Nigerian politicians use thugs to rig elections and financially empower them. 


2. That Sunday Igboho amassed riches through political thuggery.


3. That political thuggery is highly lucrative in Nigeria.


4. That Tinubu is a reckless spender.


5. That Senator Ojudu doesn't know the full implications of his write-up.


6. That Ojudu's piece de-markets Tinubu as much as it damages Sunday Igboho.


7. The piece is a serious dent for Nigeria's image among the Comity of Nations.


8. That Tinubu's wealth is questionable.


9. That the once rumoured story that APC (Tinubu's current party) paid all respected SANs in the country so that none would take Dr Goodluck Jonathan's election petition following his defeat in the 2015 General Elections and the same with Atiku in 2019 might be true.


How many hotels were in the whole of Ekiti State as at 2009?


How could you pay for all rooms in all hotels in all the local governments and towns in Ekiti?


Would Tinubu have used his legitimate and hard-earned incomes to do this?


Was he paid back of his huge investments after Fayemi won the election?


If this FG is fighting corruption, this is a case that should be investigated but let he who will clean others first clean himself!

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