news

corruption

Followers

Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts

#2023ELECTION: - TINUBU’S MORAL OPACITY & SUNDRY FOIBLES

#2023ELECTION: - TINUBU’S MORAL OPACITY & SUNDRY FOIBLES

JAGABAN OF BORGU IN TROUBLE

BY ABEL ADA-MUSA


Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the strongman of Lagos politics and the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) is a familiar actor in stormy waters. He is known to controversy of various kinds, especially his source of stupendous wealth, age, nativity, real name and educational qualifications.


Since 1999, when contested and won the governorship of  Lagos State, these have been his Achilles heel; to wit, his political challenges. The good news, however,  is that he had always weathered the storms.


As a politician, Tinubu has often acted  as a disciple of Machiavelli and a worshipper of Mammon, than a disciple of Abraham Lincoln. He believes in coercive or authoritarian democracy. He knows all the instruments of acquiring power and how to keep it. He plays the game both fair and rough, depending on the circumstance. He is good at what he does! I count it as a plus for him, though.


His influence in Lagos is dorminant and unfettered, especially since when he became governor in 1999 till 2007. He has built political structures that made him lay hold of Lagos and its resources with a very firm grip. Rumour has it that he owns almost half of Lagos, in property and in affluence. His name looms large and easily reverberates across all political spectrum in Lagos State, especially.


But one thing that has besmeared his politics over the years, is the opaqueness of his character, lifestyle and accomplishments. 


When he was  elected governor, in 1999, one Mr. Wasiu Balogun wrote a petition against him, alleging that the information he pleaded in his Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) form CF001were false. It was a daring move that also attracted the indefatigable and firebrand lawyer late Gani Fawehinmi, who went to court to challenge Tinubu’s certain information on the INEC form. He contended that the state governor perjured; especially in the information regarding his university certificate.


He said the claim that his certificates were stolen by “unknown soldier” when they raided his house between 1994 and and 1998, in Lagos was not true. 


TheNews magazine did an investigation into the story. What it came out with was deep and damning. It was discovered that he did not attend St. Paul Children’s Home school, Ibadan. And also that the St. Paul School Aroloya, Lagos, which he quoted on the INEC form did not exist!


He also claimed to have attended the famous Government College, Ibadan between 1965 and 1968. When the Old Students of the college learned that the governor of Lagos State was also an “old student”, they proposed a grand reception for him.  But at a point, they paused to find out the actual year he graduated. His name could not be found anywhere. That was how the planned event died a natural death.


While the controversy was going on, it was rumoured that the then Governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina ordered  that all documents relating to the graduates of Government College, Ibadan, be submitted and stored in his office. The principal of the college was reportedly barred from speaking with any journalist or anybody, on the matter.


What was most worrying is the conspiracy of silence on that part of his supposed  classmates, schoolmates and teachers, IF ANY. No old student of Tinuhu has ever spoken for or against him, except the ‘bad boy’ like Femi Aribisala, who has gone public to deny that Tinubu was their mate. At least, if he doesn’t have a certificate, he should have a classmate! But none! No certificates, no classmates, no former teachers.


Also punctured was his claim that he attended Richard Daley College in US, between 1969 and and 1971. The same for his averment that he studied at University of Chicago, between 1972 and 1976.


The APC presidential candidate is mature enough to know the difference between University of Chicago and Chicago State University. Recently, fact emerged that Chicago State University confirmed that he attended the institution. A sigh of relief there, I think! 


Meanwhile, the case filed by Fawehinmi was decided by the Supreme Court in 2002, in favour of Tinubu, of course. The apex court ruled that the diehard lawyer was statute barred by the immunity clause in the constitution, which said that the governor could not be sued while in office.  


So, he escaped on a technical ground, but the substance of the case remained. It should be stated here that the Jagaban of Borgu kingdom, as he is fondly called, has never lost any legal battle. But he knew then that the snake had merely been bruised, not killed, as the matter keeps resurfacing.


In 2003, Tinubu stirred further controversy, when he filled the same INEC form CF001. This time around, he removed all the educational qualifications he pleaded in 1999. In the columns meant for primary school, secondary school, university attended, he wrote NOT APPLICABLE.


The matter has recently aggravated because of 2023 election. The summary is that Tinuhu has integrity issues around  his personality. He needs to come clean of all the baggage alleged to be in his kitty? 


Tinubu’ past and present are haunting him direly. One issue that has failed to leave the front burner of presidential politics is his alleged involvement in drugs trafficking, for which he was arrested in 1990.


In the course of a sting operation, one Abiodun Agbele sold white heroin to an undercover FBI agent on November 28, 1990. The fact of the matter is that the drug  charges brought against Tinubu by the FBI, sounded very clear, detailed, and unambiguous.


Upon his arrest, he named one Mueez Akande as his drug boss. Upon investigation, it was revealed that funds from Mr. Akande’s white heroin drug cartel had found its way into Mr. Tinubu’s account and that they could not be justified by his legitimate income, then which stood at about $2400 a month.


Bola Tinubu was found to have shared accommodation with the said Mr. Akande, who had been his known associate for years. And that rather than fight the charges of laundering money for a drug cartel, Bola Tinubu entered into a plea agreement with the US Federal Government to forfeit $460,000 in drug money to the government.


These are the undeniable FACTS!


The APC presidential candidate has not come out clean on the allegation. The fact that he entered a plea bargain, did not exonerate him of the offence!


The fact that they go in and out of US is not a proof that he was exonerated. If a US permanent resident is convicted and imprisoned and serves his sentence, he can fly in and out of America without hindrance.


The grounds for inadmissibility into the United States are found in Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (I.N.A.) and they do not apply to Bola Tinubu, who was carrying green card.


The fact remains that Bola Tinubu was involved in drug  case, and by accepting a plea bargain, in which he voluntarily agreed to forfeit his assets, rather than go to trial, he is seen in the eyes of the law to have admitted to being a drug lord.


Other controversies surrounding the Jagaban are his age, nativity and real name. Who is Tinubu? Who is his real father? Identity is very important. His identity is still shrouded in controversy.


Late Secretary General of Pan-Yoruba Cultural Organization, (Afenifere), Yinka Odumakin gave an insight into Tinubu’s origin and age. In a direct mail to him in 1999, Odumakin confirmed that he came from the same state with him – Osun. He went further to remind him that he came from Iragbiji. Odumakin, who obviously knew so much revealed that when Tinubu’s mother died, it  was Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi that led a delegation from Lagos that attended the burial, on  behalf of Tinubu. The reason was because, he had chosen another home and another family in Lagos. 


Tinubu should not be ashamed of his nativity, especially when almost every Yoruba in Lagos originated from somewhere, outside Lagos.


In 1999, Tinubu was quoted as saying that he was 66 years old. Odumakin, in the said memo to him, reminded him that one of the sons of Tinubu’s elder brother, had just celebrated his 63 years of age! And that he could not be senior to his nephew by just three years.


He also said that he saw a photograph of Tinubu taken in 1974 at the palace of Soun Ogbomoso, during the installation of the royal father. He said Tinubu was cooling off with a bottle of beer and a packet of cigarettes in his front, on the table. Odumakin rightly concluded that his age was seriously doctored, for no known reason.


The certificate controversy whirling around somebody of his stature is so unfortunate and sad. Yoruba people are very diligent when it comes to education and record keeping. It is very difficult to see a Yoruba man with questionable educational qualifications. Tinubu’s case is quite different and amazing.


Tinubu has once stated why he could not attend regular education, as other Yoruba children, citing poverty. The question is, why should he quote at all, in his 1999 INEC forms. And why should he removed them in 2003, when filling the same form? This is where allegation of perjury comes. He was not consistent with the information regarding his educational background.


Former political adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri gave insight into why Tinubu could not cite his primary school and secondary school background. He said, they could answer some questions surrounding his nativity, age and real name. Ordinarily, we don’t need this information in order to contest election. We need them for the sake of integrity and responsibility. 


Everybody comes from somewhere, no matter how poor and remote. MKO Abiola once told the world that he took egg for the first time in the house of his late wife, Simbiat, whose parents were relatively rich. Your background is who you  are. We shouldn’t be ashamed of it. It is part of accountability required of every human being and a responsible leader.


It is so sad that in this era, we are talking about academic certificate for somebody aspiring to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It means if he becomes president, we will be dealing with a leader with identity crisis. This raises many moral questions, for us, as a nation.


But who cares about morality and accountability in Nigeria, when it has to do with politics? Nobody! When will Nigeria produce a president that is a professor. When will the country have a president that is an engineer, a lawyer, a medical doctor, a surveyor, an accountant, et al?


The Buhari matter of 2015 is repeating itself in 2023, in Tinubu. Since 2015, the president of Nigeria has been submitting affidavits, in place of certificates, to INEC. Another question is, why are the presidential candidates of APC having issues with their certificates? 


Again, like Buhari his predecessor, Tinubu is dodging television or press interviews, with excuses. This is probably as a result of the various dirty  skeletons in his cupboard. Yet, this will not matter when we go to polls in 2023


 What manner of country is this?


A Professor of law, and Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo contested the APC presidential primary election with Tinubu, along with others. Osinbajo lost. Tinubu won. This is Nigeria! When you want to rule this country, you don’t need to go to school. The Nigerian electorate say, those that go to school only speak “grammar”; and that they are stingy. To be stingy as a politician, is that you don’t bribe voters with money, during elections.


This is the type of country we have. People with sound integrity and credible certificates cannot win elections


No responsible professor with his hard earned money will give $25,000 to one delegate, in order to win primary election. It is as immoral as it is fraudulent.


Tinubu is a shrew master strategist. He has always bought his way through all the challenges of his life, bearing in mind that he is grossly inadequate. Tinubu is a Mammon worshipper, like many of Nigerian politicians.


Tinubu can be likened to most of the emperor’s of ancient and medieval history, who ruled and dominated their environments by smooth plotting and brute coercion. He is a dictator par excellence. He is very arrogant!


What was his legitimate business before before 1999, when he became the governor of Lagos State? I don’t know. But we are aware that he could not properly fund his governorship election, in 1999. It was said that friends had to rally around him to help him print of his campaign materials and for other essential expenses. He had only a house in Lagos. According to Odumakin, the four cars he was using at that time belonged to one Solomon Ganiyu. There was nothing like Bourdillion Villa, in Victoria Island then.


Let us accept that Tinubu ran away from Nigeria because Sani Abacha’s military junta was looking for his head on a platter, as he claimed, being a NADECO activist. I presume that the first thing that should have naturally come to his mind after picking his transport fare was his school certificates. As we can see, he picked his bag, a few clothes and his money. And left his certificates behind, IF ANY! This is very hard to believe!


Nigeria is such an unlucky country. If Tinubu wins the next presidential election, we would be having a president we don’t really know. Buhari’s case in 2015 could be better. At least, we know that the president is from Daura in Katsina State, even though he is carrying WAEC ‘s “attestation certificate.”


The trend of voting political leaders with only affidavits should stop. In 2015, supporters of Buhari were quoted as saying that even if he was holding ‘toilet tissue paper’ or ‘NEPA bill’ as certificate, they would vote for him. And they did. We are again confronted with a similar situation, with Tinubu, in 2023. 


Tinubu’s age, nativity, real name, schools he attended have never mattered; and it will not matter in the next presidential election. We passed through this road before, up to Supreme Court. He has always won his legal cases, brought against him, as long as they are brought before Nigerian judges.


As Nigerians, we are not better than him. As the saying goes, those that vote such leaders in office are accomplices, not victims.


The issue of Tinubu’s certificates will not be on the next presidential ballot. Nobody in Nigeria wins election on the basis of integrity or educational attainment. What matters is the size and content of your bullion van. Tinubu already knows what to do in the next election. He should just deploy bullion vans to each of the 36 states of the country.


A bullion van for a state. This is the expected picture for the next presidential election.


GOD HELP NIGERIA!2023: TINUBU’S MORAL OPACITY & SUNDRY FOIBLES (updated)

2023: TINUBU’S MORAL OPACITY & SUNDRY FOIBLES (updated)

 

IN MAINSTREAM 

BY ABEL ADA-MUSA


Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the strongman of Lagos politics and the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) is a familiar actor in stormy waters. He is known to controversy of various kinds, especially his source of stupendous wealth, age, nativity, real name and educational qualifications.


Since 1999, when contested and won the governorship of  Lagos State, these have been his Achilles heel; to wit, his political challenges. The good news, however,  is that he had always weathered the storms.


As a politician, Tinubu has often acted  as a disciple of Machiavelli and a worshipper of Mammon, than a disciple of Abraham Lincoln. He believes in coercive or authoritarian democracy. He knows all the instruments of acquiring power and how to keep it. He plays the game both fair and rough, depending on the circumstance. He is good at what he does! I count it as a plus for him, though.


His influence in Lagos is dorminant and unfettered, especially since when he became governor in 1999 till 2007. He has built political structures that made him lay hold of Lagos and its resources with a very firm grip. Rumour has it that he owns almost half of Lagos, in property and in affluence. His name looms large and easily reverberates across all political spectrum in Lagos State, especially.


But one thing that has besmeared his politics over the years, is the opaqueness of his character, lifestyle and accomplishments. 


When he was  elected governor, in 1999, one Mr. Wasiu Balogun wrote a petition against him, alleging that the information he pleaded in his Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) form CF001were false. It was a daring move that also attracted the indefatigable and firebrand lawyer late Gani Fawehinmi, who went to court to challenge Tinubu’s certain information on the INEC form. He contended that the state governor perjured; especially in the information regarding his university certificate.


He said the claim that his certificates were stolen by “unknown soldier” when they raided his house between 1994 and and 1998, in Lagos was not true. 


TheNews magazine did an investigation into the story. What it came out with was deep and damning. It was discovered that he did not attend St. Paul Children’s Home school, Ibadan. And also that the St. Paul School Aroloya, Lagos, which he quoted on the INEC form did not exist!


He also claimed to have attended the famous Government College, Ibadan between 1965 and 1968. When the Old Students of the college learned that the governor of Lagos State was also an “old student”, they proposed a grand reception for him.  But at a point, they paused to find out the actual year he graduated. His name could not be found anywhere. That was how the planned event died a natural death.


While the controversy was going on, it was rumoured that the then Governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina ordered  that all documents relating to the graduates of Government College, Ibadan, be submitted and stored in his office. The principal of the college was reportedly barred from speaking with any journalist or anybody, on the matter.


What was most worrying is the conspiracy of silence on that part of his supposed  classmates, schoolmates and teachers, IF ANY. No old student of Tinuhu has ever spoken for or against him, except the ‘bad boy’ like Femi Aribisala, who has gone public to deny that Tinubu was their mate. At least, if he doesn’t have a certificate, he should have a classmate! But none! No certificates, no classmates, no former teachers.


Also punctured was his claim that he attended Richard Daley College in US, between 1969 and and 1971. The same for his averment that he studied at University of Chicago, between 1972 and 1976.


The APC presidential candidate is mature enough to know the difference between University of Chicago and Chicago State University. Recently, fact emerged that Chicago State University confirmed that he attended the institution. A sigh of relief there, I think! 


Meanwhile, the case filed by Fawehinmi was decided by the Supreme Court in 2002, in favour of Tinubu, of course. The apex court ruled that the diehard lawyer was statute barred by the immunity clause in the constitution, which said that the governor could not be sued while in office.  


So, he escaped on a technical ground, but the substance of the case remained. It should be stated here that the Jagaban of Borgu kingdom, as he is fondly called, has never lost any legal battle. But he knew then that the snake had merely been bruised, not killed, as the matter keeps resurfacing.


In 2003, Tinubu stirred further controversy, when he filled the same INEC form CF001. This time around, he removed all the educational qualifications he pleaded in 1999. In the columns meant for primary school, secondary school, university attended, he wrote NOT APPLICABLE.


The matter has recently aggravated because of 2023 election. The summary is that Tinuhu has integrity issues around  his personality. He needs to come clean of all the baggage alleged to be in his kitty? 


Tinubu’ past and present are haunting him direly. One issue that has failed to leave the front burner of presidential politics is his alleged involvement in drugs trafficking, for which he was arrested in 1990.


In the course of a sting operation, one Abiodun Agbele sold white heroin to an undercover FBI agent on November 28, 1990. The fact of the matter is that the drug  charges brought against Tinubu by the FBI, sounded very clear, detailed, and unambiguous.


Upon his arrest, he named one Mueez Akande as his drug boss. Upon investigation, it was revealed that funds from Mr. Akande’s white heroin drug cartel had found its way into Mr. Tinubu’s account and that they could not be justified by his legitimate income, then which stood at about $2400 a month.


Bola Tinubu was found to have shared accommodation with the said Mr. Akande, who had been his known associate for years. And that rather than fight the charges of laundering money for a drug cartel, Bola Tinubu entered into a plea agreement with the US Federal Government to forfeit $460,000 in drug money to the government.


These are the undeniable FACTS!


The APC presidential candidate has not come out clean on the allegation. The fact that he entered a plea bargain, did not exonerate him of the offence!


The fact that they go in and out of US is not a proof that he was exonerated. If a US permanent resident is convicted and imprisoned and serves his sentence, he can fly in and out of America without hindrance.


The grounds for inadmissibility into the United States are found in Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (I.N.A.) and they do not apply to Bola Tinubu, who was carrying green card.


The fact remains that Bola Tinubu was involved in drug  case, and by accepting a plea bargain, in which he voluntarily agreed to forfeit his assets, rather than go to trial, he is seen in the eyes of the law to have admitted to being a drug lord.


Other controversies surrounding the Jagaban are his age, nativity and real name. Who is Tinubu? Who is his real father? Identity is very important. His identity is still shrouded in controversy.


Late Secretary General of Pan-Yoruba Cultural Organization, (Afenifere), Yinka Odumakin gave an insight into Tinubu’s origin and age. In a direct mail to him in 1999, Odumakin confirmed that he came from the same state with him – Osun. He went further to remind him that he came from Iragbiji. Odumakin, who obviously knew so much revealed that when Tinubu’s mother died, it  was Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi that led a delegation from Lagos that attended the burial, on  behalf of Tinubu. The reason was because, he had chosen another home and another family in Lagos. 


Tinubu should not be ashamed of his nativity, especially when almost every Yoruba in Lagos originated from somewhere, outside Lagos.


In 1999, Tinubu was quoted as saying that he was 66 years old. Odumakin, in the said memo to him, reminded him that one of the sons of Tinubu’s elder brother, had just celebrated his 63 years of age! And that he could not be senior to his nephew by just three years.


He also said that he saw a photograph of Tinubu taken in 1974 at the palace of Soun Ogbomoso, during the installation of the royal father. He said Tinubu was cooling off with a bottle of beer and a packet of cigarettes in his front, on the table. Odumakin rightly concluded that his age was seriously doctored, for no known reason.


The certificate controversy whirling around somebody of his stature is so unfortunate and sad. Yoruba people are very diligent when it comes to education and record keeping. It is very difficult to see a Yoruba man with questionable educational qualifications. Tinubu’s case is quite different and amazing.


Tinubu has once stated why he could not attend regular education, as other Yoruba children, citing poverty. The question is, why should he quote at all, in his 1999 INEC forms. And why should he removed them in 2003, when filling the same form? This is where allegation of perjury comes. He was not consistent with the information regarding his educational background.


Former political adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri gave insight into why Tinubu could not cite his primary school and secondary school background. He said, they could answer some questions surrounding his nativity, age and real name. Ordinarily, we don’t need this information in order to contest election. We need them for the sake of integrity and responsibility. 


Everybody comes from somewhere, no matter how poor and remote. MKO Abiola once told the world that he took egg for the first time in the house of his late wife, Simbiat, whose parents were relatively rich. Your background is who you  are. We shouldn’t be ashamed of it. It is part of accountability required of every human being and a responsible leader.


It is so sad that in this era, we are talking about academic certificate for somebody aspiring to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It means if he becomes president, we will be dealing with a leader with identity crisis. This raises many moral questions, for us, as a nation.


But who cares about morality and accountability in Nigeria, when it has to do with politics? Nobody! When will Nigeria produce a president that is a professor. When will the country have a president that is an engineer, a lawyer, a medical doctor, a surveyor, an accountant, et al?


The Buhari matter of 2015 is repeating itself in 2023, in Tinubu. Since 2015, the president of Nigeria has been submitting affidavits, in place of certificates, to INEC. Another question is, why are the presidential candidates of APC having issues with their certificates? 


Again, like Buhari his predecessor, Tinubu is dodging television or press interviews, with excuses. This is probably as a result of the various dirty  skeletons in his cupboard. Yet, this will not matter when we go to polls in 2023


 What manner of country is this?


A Professor of law, and Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo contested the APC presidential primary election with Tinubu, along with others. Osinbajo lost. Tinubu won. This is Nigeria! When you want to rule this country, you don’t need to go to school. The Nigerian electorate say, those that go to school only speak “grammar”; and that they are stingy. To be stingy as a politician, is that you don’t bribe voters with money, during elections.


This is the type of country we have. People with sound integrity and credible certificates cannot win elections


No responsible professor with his hard earned money will give $25,000 to one delegate, in order to win primary election. It is as immoral as it is fraudulent.


Tinubu is a shrew master strategist. He has always bought his way through all the challenges of his life, bearing in mind that he is grossly inadequate. Tinubu is a Mammon worshipper, like many of Nigerian politicians.


Tinubu can be likened to most of the emperor’s of ancient and medieval history, who ruled and dominated their environments by smooth plotting and brute coercion. He is a dictator par excellence. He is very arrogant!


What was his legitimate business before before 1999, when he became the governor of Lagos State? I don’t know. But we are aware that he could not properly fund his governorship election, in 1999. It was said that friends had to rally around him to help him print of his campaign materials and for other essential expenses. He had only a house in Lagos. According to Odumakin, the four cars he was using at that time belonged to one Solomon Ganiyu. There was nothing like Bourdillion Villa, in Victoria Island then.


Let us accept that Tinubu ran away from Nigeria because Sani Abacha’s military junta was looking for his head on a platter, as he claimed, being a NADECO activist. I presume that the first thing that should have naturally come to his mind after picking his transport fare was his school certificates. As we can see, he picked his bag, a few clothes and his money. And left his certificates behind, IF ANY! This is very hard to believe!


Nigeria is such an unlucky country. If Tinubu wins the next presidential election, we would be having a president we don’t really know. Buhari’s case in 2015 could be better. At least, we know that the president is from Daura in Katsina State, even though he is carrying WAEC ‘s “attestation certificate.”


The trend of voting political leaders with only affidavits should stop. In 2015, supporters of Buhari were quoted as saying that even if he was holding ‘toilet tissue paper’ or ‘NEPA bill’ as certificate, they would vote for him. And they did. We are again confronted with a similar situation, with Tinubu, in 2023. 


Tinubu’s age, nativity, real name, schools he attended have never mattered; and it will not matter in the next presidential election. We passed through this road before, up to Supreme Court. He has always won his legal cases, brought against him, as long as they are brought before Nigerian judges.


As Nigerians, we are not better than him. As the saying goes, those that vote such leaders in office are accomplices, not victims.


The issue of Tinubu’s certificates will not be on the next presidential ballot. Nobody in Nigeria wins election on the basis of integrity or educational attainment. What matters is the size and content of your bullion van. Tinubu already knows what to do in the next election. He should just deploy bullion vans to each of the 36 states of the country.


A bullion van for a state. This is the expected picture for the next presidential election.


GOD HELP NIGERIA!2023: TINUBU’S MORAL OPACITY & SUNDRY FOIBLES (updated)

 

IN MAINSTREAM 

BY ABEL ADA-MUSA


Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the strongman of Lagos politics and the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) is a familiar actor in stormy waters. He is known to controversy of various kinds, especially his source of stupendous wealth, age, nativity, real name and educational qualifications.


Since 1999, when contested and won the governorship of  Lagos State, these have been his Achilles heel; to wit, his political challenges. The good news, however,  is that he had always weathered the storms.


As a politician, Tinubu has often acted  as a disciple of Machiavelli and a worshipper of Mammon, than a disciple of Abraham Lincoln. He believes in coercive or authoritarian democracy. He knows all the instruments of acquiring power and how to keep it. He plays the game both fair and rough, depending on the circumstance. He is good at what he does! I count it as a plus for him, though.


His influence in Lagos is dorminant and unfettered, especially since when he became governor in 1999 till 2007. He has built political structures that made him lay hold of Lagos and its resources with a very firm grip. Rumour has it that he owns almost half of Lagos, in property and in affluence. His name looms large and easily reverberates across all political spectrum in Lagos State, especially.


But one thing that has besmeared his politics over the years, is the opaqueness of his character, lifestyle and accomplishments. 


When he was  elected governor, in 1999, one Mr. Wasiu Balogun wrote a petition against him, alleging that the information he pleaded in his Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) form CF001were false. It was a daring move that also attracted the indefatigable and firebrand lawyer late Gani Fawehinmi, who went to court to challenge Tinubu’s certain information on the INEC form. He contended that the state governor perjured; especially in the information regarding his university certificate.


He said the claim that his certificates were stolen by “unknown soldier” when they raided his house between 1994 and and 1998, in Lagos was not true. 


TheNews magazine did an investigation into the story. What it came out with was deep and damning. It was discovered that he did not attend St. Paul Children’s Home school, Ibadan. And also that the St. Paul School Aroloya, Lagos, which he quoted on the INEC form did not exist!


He also claimed to have attended the famous Government College, Ibadan between 1965 and 1968. When the Old Students of the college learned that the governor of Lagos State was also an “old student”, they proposed a grand reception for him.  But at a point, they paused to find out the actual year he graduated. His name could not be found anywhere. That was how the planned event died a natural death.


While the controversy was going on, it was rumoured that the then Governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina ordered  that all documents relating to the graduates of Government College, Ibadan, be submitted and stored in his office. The principal of the college was reportedly barred from speaking with any journalist or anybody, on the matter.


What was most worrying is the conspiracy of silence on that part of his supposed  classmates, schoolmates and teachers, IF ANY. No old student of Tinuhu has ever spoken for or against him, except the ‘bad boy’ like Femi Aribisala, who has gone public to deny that Tinubu was their mate. At least, if he doesn’t have a certificate, he should have a classmate! But none! No certificates, no classmates, no former teachers.


Also punctured was his claim that he attended Richard Daley College in US, between 1969 and and 1971. The same for his averment that he studied at University of Chicago, between 1972 and 1976.


The APC presidential candidate is mature enough to know the difference between University of Chicago and Chicago State University. Recently, fact emerged that Chicago State University confirmed that he attended the institution. A sigh of relief there, I think! 


Meanwhile, the case filed by Fawehinmi was decided by the Supreme Court in 2002, in favour of Tinubu, of course. The apex court ruled that the diehard lawyer was statute barred by the immunity clause in the constitution, which said that the governor could not be sued while in office.  


So, he escaped on a technical ground, but the substance of the case remained. It should be stated here that the Jagaban of Borgu kingdom, as he is fondly called, has never lost any legal battle. But he knew then that the snake had merely been bruised, not killed, as the matter keeps resurfacing.


In 2003, Tinubu stirred further controversy, when he filled the same INEC form CF001. This time around, he removed all the educational qualifications he pleaded in 1999. In the columns meant for primary school, secondary school, university attended, he wrote NOT APPLICABLE.


The matter has recently aggravated because of 2023 election. The summary is that Tinuhu has integrity issues around  his personality. He needs to come clean of all the baggage alleged to be in his kitty? 


Tinubu’ past and present are haunting him direly. One issue that has failed to leave the front burner of presidential politics is his alleged involvement in drugs trafficking, for which he was arrested in 1990.


In the course of a sting operation, one Abiodun Agbele sold white heroin to an undercover FBI agent on November 28, 1990. The fact of the matter is that the drug  charges brought against Tinubu by the FBI, sounded very clear, detailed, and unambiguous.


Upon his arrest, he named one Mueez Akande as his drug boss. Upon investigation, it was revealed that funds from Mr. Akande’s white heroin drug cartel had found its way into Mr. Tinubu’s account and that they could not be justified by his legitimate income, then which stood at about $2400 a month.


Bola Tinubu was found to have shared accommodation with the said Mr. Akande, who had been his known associate for years. And that rather than fight the charges of laundering money for a drug cartel, Bola Tinubu entered into a plea agreement with the US Federal Government to forfeit $460,000 in drug money to the government.


These are the undeniable FACTS!


The APC presidential candidate has not come out clean on the allegation. The fact that he entered a plea bargain, did not exonerate him of the offence!


The fact that they go in and out of US is not a proof that he was exonerated. If a US permanent resident is convicted and imprisoned and serves his sentence, he can fly in and out of America without hindrance.


The grounds for inadmissibility into the United States are found in Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (I.N.A.) and they do not apply to Bola Tinubu, who was carrying green card.


The fact remains that Bola Tinubu was involved in drug  case, and by accepting a plea bargain, in which he voluntarily agreed to forfeit his assets, rather than go to trial, he is seen in the eyes of the law to have admitted to being a drug lord.


Other controversies surrounding the Jagaban are his age, nativity and real name. Who is Tinubu? Who is his real father? Identity is very important. His identity is still shrouded in controversy.


Late Secretary General of Pan-Yoruba Cultural Organization, (Afenifere), Yinka Odumakin gave an insight into Tinubu’s origin and age. In a direct mail to him in 1999, Odumakin confirmed that he came from the same state with him – Osun. He went further to remind him that he came from Iragbiji. Odumakin, who obviously knew so much revealed that when Tinubu’s mother died, it  was Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi that led a delegation from Lagos that attended the burial, on  behalf of Tinubu. The reason was because, he had chosen another home and another family in Lagos. 


Tinubu should not be ashamed of his nativity, especially when almost every Yoruba in Lagos originated from somewhere, outside Lagos.


In 1999, Tinubu was quoted as saying that he was 66 years old. Odumakin, in the said memo to him, reminded him that one of the sons of Tinubu’s elder brother, had just celebrated his 63 years of age! And that he could not be senior to his nephew by just three years.


He also said that he saw a photograph of Tinubu taken in 1974 at the palace of Soun Ogbomoso, during the installation of the royal father. He said Tinubu was cooling off with a bottle of beer and a packet of cigarettes in his front, on the table. Odumakin rightly concluded that his age was seriously doctored, for no known reason.


The certificate controversy whirling around somebody of his stature is so unfortunate and sad. Yoruba people are very diligent when it comes to education and record keeping. It is very difficult to see a Yoruba man with questionable educational qualifications. Tinubu’s case is quite different and amazing.


Tinubu has once stated why he could not attend regular education, as other Yoruba children, citing poverty. The question is, why should he quote at all, in his 1999 INEC forms. And why should he removed them in 2003, when filling the same form? This is where allegation of perjury comes. He was not consistent with the information regarding his educational background.


Former political adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri gave insight into why Tinubu could not cite his primary school and secondary school background. He said, they could answer some questions surrounding his nativity, age and real name. Ordinarily, we don’t need this information in order to contest election. We need them for the sake of integrity and responsibility. 


Everybody comes from somewhere, no matter how poor and remote. MKO Abiola once told the world that he took egg for the first time in the house of his late wife, Simbiat, whose parents were relatively rich. Your background is who you  are. We shouldn’t be ashamed of it. It is part of accountability required of every human being and a responsible leader.


It is so sad that in this era, we are talking about academic certificate for somebody aspiring to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It means if he becomes president, we will be dealing with a leader with identity crisis. This raises many moral questions, for us, as a nation.


But who cares about morality and accountability in Nigeria, when it has to do with politics? Nobody! When will Nigeria produce a president that is a professor. When will the country have a president that is an engineer, a lawyer, a medical doctor, a surveyor, an accountant, et al?


The Buhari matter of 2015 is repeating itself in 2023, in Tinubu. Since 2015, the president of Nigeria has been submitting affidavits, in place of certificates, to INEC. Another question is, why are the presidential candidates of APC having issues with their certificates? 


Again, like Buhari his predecessor, Tinubu is dodging television or press interviews, with excuses. This is probably as a result of the various dirty  skeletons in his cupboard. Yet, this will not matter when we go to polls in 2023


 What manner of country is this?


A Professor of law, and Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo contested the APC presidential primary election with Tinubu, along with others. Osinbajo lost. Tinubu won. This is Nigeria! When you want to rule this country, you don’t need to go to school. The Nigerian electorate say, those that go to school only speak “grammar”; and that they are stingy. To be stingy as a politician, is that you don’t bribe voters with money, during elections.


This is the type of country we have. People with sound integrity and credible certificates cannot win elections


No responsible professor with his hard earned money will give $25,000 to one delegate, in order to win primary election. It is as immoral as it is fraudulent.


Tinubu is a shrew master strategist. He has always bought his way through all the challenges of his life, bearing in mind that he is grossly inadequate. Tinubu is a Mammon worshipper, like many of Nigerian politicians.


Tinubu can be likened to most of the emperor’s of ancient and medieval history, who ruled and dominated their environments by smooth plotting and brute coercion. He is a dictator par excellence. He is very arrogant!


What was his legitimate business before before 1999, when he became the governor of Lagos State? I don’t know. But we are aware that he could not properly fund his governorship election, in 1999. It was said that friends had to rally around him to help him print of his campaign materials and for other essential expenses. He had only a house in Lagos. According to Odumakin, the four cars he was using at that time belonged to one Solomon Ganiyu. There was nothing like Bourdillion Villa, in Victoria Island then.


Let us accept that Tinubu ran away from Nigeria because Sani Abacha’s military junta was looking for his head on a platter, as he claimed, being a NADECO activist. I presume that the first thing that should have naturally come to his mind after picking his transport fare was his school certificates. As we can see, he picked his bag, a few clothes and his money. And left his certificates behind, IF ANY! This is very hard to believe!


Nigeria is such an unlucky country. If Tinubu wins the next presidential election, we would be having a president we don’t really know. Buhari’s case in 2015 could be better. At least, we know that the president is from Daura in Katsina State, even though he is carrying WAEC ‘s “attestation certificate.”


The trend of voting political leaders with only affidavits should stop. In 2015, supporters of Buhari were quoted as saying that even if he was holding ‘toilet tissue paper’ or ‘NEPA bill’ as certificate, they would vote for him. And they did. We are again confronted with a similar situation, with Tinubu, in 2023. 


Tinubu’s age, nativity, real name, schools he attended have never mattered; and it will not matter in the next presidential election. We passed through this road before, up to Supreme Court. He has always won his legal cases, brought against him, as long as they are brought before Nigerian judges.


As Nigerians, we are not better than him. As the saying goes, those that vote such leaders in office are accomplices, not victims.


The issue of Tinubu’s certificates will not be on the next presidential ballot. Nobody in Nigeria wins election on the basis of integrity or educational attainment. What matters is the size and content of your bullion van. Tinubu already knows what to do in the next election. He should just deploy bullion vans to each of the 36 states of the country.


A bullion van for a state. This is the expected picture for the next presidential election.


GOD HELP NIGERIA!




SPONSORED ADS 👇👇


Support, Mobilise and Vote Labour Party in the forth coming general elections in Nigeria!!!

A NEW NIGERIA IS POSSIBLE!!!










JAGABAN OF BORGU IN TROUBLE

BY ABEL ADA-MUSA


Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the strongman of Lagos politics and the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) is a familiar actor in stormy waters. He is known to controversy of various kinds, especially his source of stupendous wealth, age, nativity, real name and educational qualifications.


Since 1999, when contested and won the governorship of  Lagos State, these have been his Achilles heel; to wit, his political challenges. The good news, however,  is that he had always weathered the storms.


As a politician, Tinubu has often acted  as a disciple of Machiavelli and a worshipper of Mammon, than a disciple of Abraham Lincoln. He believes in coercive or authoritarian democracy. He knows all the instruments of acquiring power and how to keep it. He plays the game both fair and rough, depending on the circumstance. He is good at what he does! I count it as a plus for him, though.


His influence in Lagos is dorminant and unfettered, especially since when he became governor in 1999 till 2007. He has built political structures that made him lay hold of Lagos and its resources with a very firm grip. Rumour has it that he owns almost half of Lagos, in property and in affluence. His name looms large and easily reverberates across all political spectrum in Lagos State, especially.


But one thing that has besmeared his politics over the years, is the opaqueness of his character, lifestyle and accomplishments. 


When he was  elected governor, in 1999, one Mr. Wasiu Balogun wrote a petition against him, alleging that the information he pleaded in his Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) form CF001were false. It was a daring move that also attracted the indefatigable and firebrand lawyer late Gani Fawehinmi, who went to court to challenge Tinubu’s certain information on the INEC form. He contended that the state governor perjured; especially in the information regarding his university certificate.


He said the claim that his certificates were stolen by “unknown soldier” when they raided his house between 1994 and and 1998, in Lagos was not true. 


TheNews magazine did an investigation into the story. What it came out with was deep and damning. It was discovered that he did not attend St. Paul Children’s Home school, Ibadan. And also that the St. Paul School Aroloya, Lagos, which he quoted on the INEC form did not exist!


He also claimed to have attended the famous Government College, Ibadan between 1965 and 1968. When the Old Students of the college learned that the governor of Lagos State was also an “old student”, they proposed a grand reception for him.  But at a point, they paused to find out the actual year he graduated. His name could not be found anywhere. That was how the planned event died a natural death.


While the controversy was going on, it was rumoured that the then Governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina ordered  that all documents relating to the graduates of Government College, Ibadan, be submitted and stored in his office. The principal of the college was reportedly barred from speaking with any journalist or anybody, on the matter.


What was most worrying is the conspiracy of silence on that part of his supposed  classmates, schoolmates and teachers, IF ANY. No old student of Tinuhu has ever spoken for or against him, except the ‘bad boy’ like Femi Aribisala, who has gone public to deny that Tinubu was their mate. At least, if he doesn’t have a certificate, he should have a classmate! But none! No certificates, no classmates, no former teachers.


Also punctured was his claim that he attended Richard Daley College in US, between 1969 and and 1971. The same for his averment that he studied at University of Chicago, between 1972 and 1976.


The APC presidential candidate is mature enough to know the difference between University of Chicago and Chicago State University. Recently, fact emerged that Chicago State University confirmed that he attended the institution. A sigh of relief there, I think! 


Meanwhile, the case filed by Fawehinmi was decided by the Supreme Court in 2002, in favour of Tinubu, of course. The apex court ruled that the diehard lawyer was statute barred by the immunity clause in the constitution, which said that the governor could not be sued while in office.  


So, he escaped on a technical ground, but the substance of the case remained. It should be stated here that the Jagaban of Borgu kingdom, as he is fondly called, has never lost any legal battle. But he knew then that the snake had merely been bruised, not killed, as the matter keeps resurfacing.


In 2003, Tinubu stirred further controversy, when he filled the same INEC form CF001. This time around, he removed all the educational qualifications he pleaded in 1999. In the columns meant for primary school, secondary school, university attended, he wrote NOT APPLICABLE.


The matter has recently aggravated because of 2023 election. The summary is that Tinuhu has integrity issues around  his personality. He needs to come clean of all the baggage alleged to be in his kitty? 


Tinubu’ past and present are haunting him direly. One issue that has failed to leave the front burner of presidential politics is his alleged involvement in drugs trafficking, for which he was arrested in 1990.


In the course of a sting operation, one Abiodun Agbele sold white heroin to an undercover FBI agent on November 28, 1990. The fact of the matter is that the drug  charges brought against Tinubu by the FBI, sounded very clear, detailed, and unambiguous.


Upon his arrest, he named one Mueez Akande as his drug boss. Upon investigation, it was revealed that funds from Mr. Akande’s white heroin drug cartel had found its way into Mr. Tinubu’s account and that they could not be justified by his legitimate income, then which stood at about $2400 a month.


Bola Tinubu was found to have shared accommodation with the said Mr. Akande, who had been his known associate for years. And that rather than fight the charges of laundering money for a drug cartel, Bola Tinubu entered into a plea agreement with the US Federal Government to forfeit $460,000 in drug money to the government.


These are the undeniable FACTS!


The APC presidential candidate has not come out clean on the allegation. The fact that he entered a plea bargain, did not exonerate him of the offence!


The fact that they go in and out of US is not a proof that he was exonerated. If a US permanent resident is convicted and imprisoned and serves his sentence, he can fly in and out of America without hindrance.


The grounds for inadmissibility into the United States are found in Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (I.N.A.) and they do not apply to Bola Tinubu, who was carrying green card.


The fact remains that Bola Tinubu was involved in drug  case, and by accepting a plea bargain, in which he voluntarily agreed to forfeit his assets, rather than go to trial, he is seen in the eyes of the law to have admitted to being a drug lord.


Other controversies surrounding the Jagaban are his age, nativity and real name. Who is Tinubu? Who is his real father? Identity is very important. His identity is still shrouded in controversy.


Late Secretary General of Pan-Yoruba Cultural Organization, (Afenifere), Yinka Odumakin gave an insight into Tinubu’s origin and age. In a direct mail to him in 1999, Odumakin confirmed that he came from the same state with him – Osun. He went further to remind him that he came from Iragbiji. Odumakin, who obviously knew so much revealed that when Tinubu’s mother died, it  was Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi that led a delegation from Lagos that attended the burial, on  behalf of Tinubu. The reason was because, he had chosen another home and another family in Lagos. 


Tinubu should not be ashamed of his nativity, especially when almost every Yoruba in Lagos originated from somewhere, outside Lagos.


In 1999, Tinubu was quoted as saying that he was 66 years old. Odumakin, in the said memo to him, reminded him that one of the sons of Tinubu’s elder brother, had just celebrated his 63 years of age! And that he could not be senior to his nephew by just three years.


He also said that he saw a photograph of Tinubu taken in 1974 at the palace of Soun Ogbomoso, during the installation of the royal father. He said Tinubu was cooling off with a bottle of beer and a packet of cigarettes in his front, on the table. Odumakin rightly concluded that his age was seriously doctored, for no known reason.


The certificate controversy whirling around somebody of his stature is so unfortunate and sad. Yoruba people are very diligent when it comes to education and record keeping. It is very difficult to see a Yoruba man with questionable educational qualifications. Tinubu’s case is quite different and amazing.


Tinubu has once stated why he could not attend regular education, as other Yoruba children, citing poverty. The question is, why should he quote at all, in his 1999 INEC forms. And why should he removed them in 2003, when filling the same form? This is where allegation of perjury comes. He was not consistent with the information regarding his educational background.


Former political adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri gave insight into why Tinubu could not cite his primary school and secondary school background. He said, they could answer some questions surrounding his nativity, age and real name. Ordinarily, we don’t need this information in order to contest election. We need them for the sake of integrity and responsibility. 


Everybody comes from somewhere, no matter how poor and remote. MKO Abiola once told the world that he took egg for the first time in the house of his late wife, Simbiat, whose parents were relatively rich. Your background is who you  are. We shouldn’t be ashamed of it. It is part of accountability required of every human being and a responsible leader.


It is so sad that in this era, we are talking about academic certificate for somebody aspiring to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It means if he becomes president, we will be dealing with a leader with identity crisis. This raises many moral questions, for us, as a nation.


But who cares about morality and accountability in Nigeria, when it has to do with politics? Nobody! When will Nigeria produce a president that is a professor. When will the country have a president that is an engineer, a lawyer, a medical doctor, a surveyor, an accountant, et al?


The Buhari matter of 2015 is repeating itself in 2023, in Tinubu. Since 2015, the president of Nigeria has been submitting affidavits, in place of certificates, to INEC. Another question is, why are the presidential candidates of APC having issues with their certificates? 


Again, like Buhari his predecessor, Tinubu is dodging television or press interviews, with excuses. This is probably as a result of the various dirty  skeletons in his cupboard. Yet, this will not matter when we go to polls in 2023


 What manner of country is this?


A Professor of law, and Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo contested the APC presidential primary election with Tinubu, along with others. Osinbajo lost. Tinubu won. This is Nigeria! When you want to rule this country, you don’t need to go to school. The Nigerian electorate say, those that go to school only speak “grammar”; and that they are stingy. To be stingy as a politician, is that you don’t bribe voters with money, during elections.


This is the type of country we have. People with sound integrity and credible certificates cannot win elections


No responsible professor with his hard earned money will give $25,000 to one delegate, in order to win primary election. It is as immoral as it is fraudulent.


Tinubu is a shrew master strategist. He has always bought his way through all the challenges of his life, bearing in mind that he is grossly inadequate. Tinubu is a Mammon worshipper, like many of Nigerian politicians.


Tinubu can be likened to most of the emperor’s of ancient and medieval history, who ruled and dominated their environments by smooth plotting and brute coercion. He is a dictator par excellence. He is very arrogant!


What was his legitimate business before before 1999, when he became the governor of Lagos State? I don’t know. But we are aware that he could not properly fund his governorship election, in 1999. It was said that friends had to rally around him to help him print of his campaign materials and for other essential expenses. He had only a house in Lagos. According to Odumakin, the four cars he was using at that time belonged to one Solomon Ganiyu. There was nothing like Bourdillion Villa, in Victoria Island then.


Let us accept that Tinubu ran away from Nigeria because Sani Abacha’s military junta was looking for his head on a platter, as he claimed, being a NADECO activist. I presume that the first thing that should have naturally come to his mind after picking his transport fare was his school certificates. As we can see, he picked his bag, a few clothes and his money. And left his certificates behind, IF ANY! This is very hard to believe!


Nigeria is such an unlucky country. If Tinubu wins the next presidential election, we would be having a president we don’t really know. Buhari’s case in 2015 could be better. At least, we know that the president is from Daura in Katsina State, even though he is carrying WAEC ‘s “attestation certificate.”


The trend of voting political leaders with only affidavits should stop. In 2015, supporters of Buhari were quoted as saying that even if he was holding ‘toilet tissue paper’ or ‘NEPA bill’ as certificate, they would vote for him. And they did. We are again confronted with a similar situation, with Tinubu, in 2023. 


Tinubu’s age, nativity, real name, schools he attended have never mattered; and it will not matter in the next presidential election. We passed through this road before, up to Supreme Court. He has always won his legal cases, brought against him, as long as they are brought before Nigerian judges.


As Nigerians, we are not better than him. As the saying goes, those that vote such leaders in office are accomplices, not victims.


The issue of Tinubu’s certificates will not be on the next presidential ballot. Nobody in Nigeria wins election on the basis of integrity or educational attainment. What matters is the size and content of your bullion van. Tinubu already knows what to do in the next election. He should just deploy bullion vans to each of the 36 states of the country.


A bullion van for a state. This is the expected picture for the next presidential election.


GOD HELP NIGERIA!2023: TINUBU’S MORAL OPACITY & SUNDRY FOIBLES (updated)

2023: TINUBU’S MORAL OPACITY & SUNDRY FOIBLES (updated)

 

IN MAINSTREAM 

BY ABEL ADA-MUSA


Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the strongman of Lagos politics and the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) is a familiar actor in stormy waters. He is known to controversy of various kinds, especially his source of stupendous wealth, age, nativity, real name and educational qualifications.


Since 1999, when contested and won the governorship of  Lagos State, these have been his Achilles heel; to wit, his political challenges. The good news, however,  is that he had always weathered the storms.


As a politician, Tinubu has often acted  as a disciple of Machiavelli and a worshipper of Mammon, than a disciple of Abraham Lincoln. He believes in coercive or authoritarian democracy. He knows all the instruments of acquiring power and how to keep it. He plays the game both fair and rough, depending on the circumstance. He is good at what he does! I count it as a plus for him, though.


His influence in Lagos is dorminant and unfettered, especially since when he became governor in 1999 till 2007. He has built political structures that made him lay hold of Lagos and its resources with a very firm grip. Rumour has it that he owns almost half of Lagos, in property and in affluence. His name looms large and easily reverberates across all political spectrum in Lagos State, especially.


But one thing that has besmeared his politics over the years, is the opaqueness of his character, lifestyle and accomplishments. 


When he was  elected governor, in 1999, one Mr. Wasiu Balogun wrote a petition against him, alleging that the information he pleaded in his Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) form CF001were false. It was a daring move that also attracted the indefatigable and firebrand lawyer late Gani Fawehinmi, who went to court to challenge Tinubu’s certain information on the INEC form. He contended that the state governor perjured; especially in the information regarding his university certificate.


He said the claim that his certificates were stolen by “unknown soldier” when they raided his house between 1994 and and 1998, in Lagos was not true. 


TheNews magazine did an investigation into the story. What it came out with was deep and damning. It was discovered that he did not attend St. Paul Children’s Home school, Ibadan. And also that the St. Paul School Aroloya, Lagos, which he quoted on the INEC form did not exist!


He also claimed to have attended the famous Government College, Ibadan between 1965 and 1968. When the Old Students of the college learned that the governor of Lagos State was also an “old student”, they proposed a grand reception for him.  But at a point, they paused to find out the actual year he graduated. His name could not be found anywhere. That was how the planned event died a natural death.


While the controversy was going on, it was rumoured that the then Governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina ordered  that all documents relating to the graduates of Government College, Ibadan, be submitted and stored in his office. The principal of the college was reportedly barred from speaking with any journalist or anybody, on the matter.


What was most worrying is the conspiracy of silence on that part of his supposed  classmates, schoolmates and teachers, IF ANY. No old student of Tinuhu has ever spoken for or against him, except the ‘bad boy’ like Femi Aribisala, who has gone public to deny that Tinubu was their mate. At least, if he doesn’t have a certificate, he should have a classmate! But none! No certificates, no classmates, no former teachers.


Also punctured was his claim that he attended Richard Daley College in US, between 1969 and and 1971. The same for his averment that he studied at University of Chicago, between 1972 and 1976.


The APC presidential candidate is mature enough to know the difference between University of Chicago and Chicago State University. Recently, fact emerged that Chicago State University confirmed that he attended the institution. A sigh of relief there, I think! 


Meanwhile, the case filed by Fawehinmi was decided by the Supreme Court in 2002, in favour of Tinubu, of course. The apex court ruled that the diehard lawyer was statute barred by the immunity clause in the constitution, which said that the governor could not be sued while in office.  


So, he escaped on a technical ground, but the substance of the case remained. It should be stated here that the Jagaban of Borgu kingdom, as he is fondly called, has never lost any legal battle. But he knew then that the snake had merely been bruised, not killed, as the matter keeps resurfacing.


In 2003, Tinubu stirred further controversy, when he filled the same INEC form CF001. This time around, he removed all the educational qualifications he pleaded in 1999. In the columns meant for primary school, secondary school, university attended, he wrote NOT APPLICABLE.


The matter has recently aggravated because of 2023 election. The summary is that Tinuhu has integrity issues around  his personality. He needs to come clean of all the baggage alleged to be in his kitty? 


Tinubu’ past and present are haunting him direly. One issue that has failed to leave the front burner of presidential politics is his alleged involvement in drugs trafficking, for which he was arrested in 1990.


In the course of a sting operation, one Abiodun Agbele sold white heroin to an undercover FBI agent on November 28, 1990. The fact of the matter is that the drug  charges brought against Tinubu by the FBI, sounded very clear, detailed, and unambiguous.


Upon his arrest, he named one Mueez Akande as his drug boss. Upon investigation, it was revealed that funds from Mr. Akande’s white heroin drug cartel had found its way into Mr. Tinubu’s account and that they could not be justified by his legitimate income, then which stood at about $2400 a month.


Bola Tinubu was found to have shared accommodation with the said Mr. Akande, who had been his known associate for years. And that rather than fight the charges of laundering money for a drug cartel, Bola Tinubu entered into a plea agreement with the US Federal Government to forfeit $460,000 in drug money to the government.


These are the undeniable FACTS!


The APC presidential candidate has not come out clean on the allegation. The fact that he entered a plea bargain, did not exonerate him of the offence!


The fact that they go in and out of US is not a proof that he was exonerated. If a US permanent resident is convicted and imprisoned and serves his sentence, he can fly in and out of America without hindrance.


The grounds for inadmissibility into the United States are found in Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (I.N.A.) and they do not apply to Bola Tinubu, who was carrying green card.


The fact remains that Bola Tinubu was involved in drug  case, and by accepting a plea bargain, in which he voluntarily agreed to forfeit his assets, rather than go to trial, he is seen in the eyes of the law to have admitted to being a drug lord.


Other controversies surrounding the Jagaban are his age, nativity and real name. Who is Tinubu? Who is his real father? Identity is very important. His identity is still shrouded in controversy.


Late Secretary General of Pan-Yoruba Cultural Organization, (Afenifere), Yinka Odumakin gave an insight into Tinubu’s origin and age. In a direct mail to him in 1999, Odumakin confirmed that he came from the same state with him – Osun. He went further to remind him that he came from Iragbiji. Odumakin, who obviously knew so much revealed that when Tinubu’s mother died, it  was Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi that led a delegation from Lagos that attended the burial, on  behalf of Tinubu. The reason was because, he had chosen another home and another family in Lagos. 


Tinubu should not be ashamed of his nativity, especially when almost every Yoruba in Lagos originated from somewhere, outside Lagos.


In 1999, Tinubu was quoted as saying that he was 66 years old. Odumakin, in the said memo to him, reminded him that one of the sons of Tinubu’s elder brother, had just celebrated his 63 years of age! And that he could not be senior to his nephew by just three years.


He also said that he saw a photograph of Tinubu taken in 1974 at the palace of Soun Ogbomoso, during the installation of the royal father. He said Tinubu was cooling off with a bottle of beer and a packet of cigarettes in his front, on the table. Odumakin rightly concluded that his age was seriously doctored, for no known reason.


The certificate controversy whirling around somebody of his stature is so unfortunate and sad. Yoruba people are very diligent when it comes to education and record keeping. It is very difficult to see a Yoruba man with questionable educational qualifications. Tinubu’s case is quite different and amazing.


Tinubu has once stated why he could not attend regular education, as other Yoruba children, citing poverty. The question is, why should he quote at all, in his 1999 INEC forms. And why should he removed them in 2003, when filling the same form? This is where allegation of perjury comes. He was not consistent with the information regarding his educational background.


Former political adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri gave insight into why Tinubu could not cite his primary school and secondary school background. He said, they could answer some questions surrounding his nativity, age and real name. Ordinarily, we don’t need this information in order to contest election. We need them for the sake of integrity and responsibility. 


Everybody comes from somewhere, no matter how poor and remote. MKO Abiola once told the world that he took egg for the first time in the house of his late wife, Simbiat, whose parents were relatively rich. Your background is who you  are. We shouldn’t be ashamed of it. It is part of accountability required of every human being and a responsible leader.


It is so sad that in this era, we are talking about academic certificate for somebody aspiring to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It means if he becomes president, we will be dealing with a leader with identity crisis. This raises many moral questions, for us, as a nation.


But who cares about morality and accountability in Nigeria, when it has to do with politics? Nobody! When will Nigeria produce a president that is a professor. When will the country have a president that is an engineer, a lawyer, a medical doctor, a surveyor, an accountant, et al?


The Buhari matter of 2015 is repeating itself in 2023, in Tinubu. Since 2015, the president of Nigeria has been submitting affidavits, in place of certificates, to INEC. Another question is, why are the presidential candidates of APC having issues with their certificates? 


Again, like Buhari his predecessor, Tinubu is dodging television or press interviews, with excuses. This is probably as a result of the various dirty  skeletons in his cupboard. Yet, this will not matter when we go to polls in 2023


 What manner of country is this?


A Professor of law, and Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo contested the APC presidential primary election with Tinubu, along with others. Osinbajo lost. Tinubu won. This is Nigeria! When you want to rule this country, you don’t need to go to school. The Nigerian electorate say, those that go to school only speak “grammar”; and that they are stingy. To be stingy as a politician, is that you don’t bribe voters with money, during elections.


This is the type of country we have. People with sound integrity and credible certificates cannot win elections


No responsible professor with his hard earned money will give $25,000 to one delegate, in order to win primary election. It is as immoral as it is fraudulent.


Tinubu is a shrew master strategist. He has always bought his way through all the challenges of his life, bearing in mind that he is grossly inadequate. Tinubu is a Mammon worshipper, like many of Nigerian politicians.


Tinubu can be likened to most of the emperor’s of ancient and medieval history, who ruled and dominated their environments by smooth plotting and brute coercion. He is a dictator par excellence. He is very arrogant!


What was his legitimate business before before 1999, when he became the governor of Lagos State? I don’t know. But we are aware that he could not properly fund his governorship election, in 1999. It was said that friends had to rally around him to help him print of his campaign materials and for other essential expenses. He had only a house in Lagos. According to Odumakin, the four cars he was using at that time belonged to one Solomon Ganiyu. There was nothing like Bourdillion Villa, in Victoria Island then.


Let us accept that Tinubu ran away from Nigeria because Sani Abacha’s military junta was looking for his head on a platter, as he claimed, being a NADECO activist. I presume that the first thing that should have naturally come to his mind after picking his transport fare was his school certificates. As we can see, he picked his bag, a few clothes and his money. And left his certificates behind, IF ANY! This is very hard to believe!


Nigeria is such an unlucky country. If Tinubu wins the next presidential election, we would be having a president we don’t really know. Buhari’s case in 2015 could be better. At least, we know that the president is from Daura in Katsina State, even though he is carrying WAEC ‘s “attestation certificate.”


The trend of voting political leaders with only affidavits should stop. In 2015, supporters of Buhari were quoted as saying that even if he was holding ‘toilet tissue paper’ or ‘NEPA bill’ as certificate, they would vote for him. And they did. We are again confronted with a similar situation, with Tinubu, in 2023. 


Tinubu’s age, nativity, real name, schools he attended have never mattered; and it will not matter in the next presidential election. We passed through this road before, up to Supreme Court. He has always won his legal cases, brought against him, as long as they are brought before Nigerian judges.


As Nigerians, we are not better than him. As the saying goes, those that vote such leaders in office are accomplices, not victims.


The issue of Tinubu’s certificates will not be on the next presidential ballot. Nobody in Nigeria wins election on the basis of integrity or educational attainment. What matters is the size and content of your bullion van. Tinubu already knows what to do in the next election. He should just deploy bullion vans to each of the 36 states of the country.


A bullion van for a state. This is the expected picture for the next presidential election.


GOD HELP NIGERIA!2023: TINUBU’S MORAL OPACITY & SUNDRY FOIBLES (updated)

 

IN MAINSTREAM 

BY ABEL ADA-MUSA


Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the strongman of Lagos politics and the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) is a familiar actor in stormy waters. He is known to controversy of various kinds, especially his source of stupendous wealth, age, nativity, real name and educational qualifications.


Since 1999, when contested and won the governorship of  Lagos State, these have been his Achilles heel; to wit, his political challenges. The good news, however,  is that he had always weathered the storms.


As a politician, Tinubu has often acted  as a disciple of Machiavelli and a worshipper of Mammon, than a disciple of Abraham Lincoln. He believes in coercive or authoritarian democracy. He knows all the instruments of acquiring power and how to keep it. He plays the game both fair and rough, depending on the circumstance. He is good at what he does! I count it as a plus for him, though.


His influence in Lagos is dorminant and unfettered, especially since when he became governor in 1999 till 2007. He has built political structures that made him lay hold of Lagos and its resources with a very firm grip. Rumour has it that he owns almost half of Lagos, in property and in affluence. His name looms large and easily reverberates across all political spectrum in Lagos State, especially.


But one thing that has besmeared his politics over the years, is the opaqueness of his character, lifestyle and accomplishments. 


When he was  elected governor, in 1999, one Mr. Wasiu Balogun wrote a petition against him, alleging that the information he pleaded in his Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) form CF001were false. It was a daring move that also attracted the indefatigable and firebrand lawyer late Gani Fawehinmi, who went to court to challenge Tinubu’s certain information on the INEC form. He contended that the state governor perjured; especially in the information regarding his university certificate.


He said the claim that his certificates were stolen by “unknown soldier” when they raided his house between 1994 and and 1998, in Lagos was not true. 


TheNews magazine did an investigation into the story. What it came out with was deep and damning. It was discovered that he did not attend St. Paul Children’s Home school, Ibadan. And also that the St. Paul School Aroloya, Lagos, which he quoted on the INEC form did not exist!


He also claimed to have attended the famous Government College, Ibadan between 1965 and 1968. When the Old Students of the college learned that the governor of Lagos State was also an “old student”, they proposed a grand reception for him.  But at a point, they paused to find out the actual year he graduated. His name could not be found anywhere. That was how the planned event died a natural death.


While the controversy was going on, it was rumoured that the then Governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina ordered  that all documents relating to the graduates of Government College, Ibadan, be submitted and stored in his office. The principal of the college was reportedly barred from speaking with any journalist or anybody, on the matter.


What was most worrying is the conspiracy of silence on that part of his supposed  classmates, schoolmates and teachers, IF ANY. No old student of Tinuhu has ever spoken for or against him, except the ‘bad boy’ like Femi Aribisala, who has gone public to deny that Tinubu was their mate. At least, if he doesn’t have a certificate, he should have a classmate! But none! No certificates, no classmates, no former teachers.


Also punctured was his claim that he attended Richard Daley College in US, between 1969 and and 1971. The same for his averment that he studied at University of Chicago, between 1972 and 1976.


The APC presidential candidate is mature enough to know the difference between University of Chicago and Chicago State University. Recently, fact emerged that Chicago State University confirmed that he attended the institution. A sigh of relief there, I think! 


Meanwhile, the case filed by Fawehinmi was decided by the Supreme Court in 2002, in favour of Tinubu, of course. The apex court ruled that the diehard lawyer was statute barred by the immunity clause in the constitution, which said that the governor could not be sued while in office.  


So, he escaped on a technical ground, but the substance of the case remained. It should be stated here that the Jagaban of Borgu kingdom, as he is fondly called, has never lost any legal battle. But he knew then that the snake had merely been bruised, not killed, as the matter keeps resurfacing.


In 2003, Tinubu stirred further controversy, when he filled the same INEC form CF001. This time around, he removed all the educational qualifications he pleaded in 1999. In the columns meant for primary school, secondary school, university attended, he wrote NOT APPLICABLE.


The matter has recently aggravated because of 2023 election. The summary is that Tinuhu has integrity issues around  his personality. He needs to come clean of all the baggage alleged to be in his kitty? 


Tinubu’ past and present are haunting him direly. One issue that has failed to leave the front burner of presidential politics is his alleged involvement in drugs trafficking, for which he was arrested in 1990.


In the course of a sting operation, one Abiodun Agbele sold white heroin to an undercover FBI agent on November 28, 1990. The fact of the matter is that the drug  charges brought against Tinubu by the FBI, sounded very clear, detailed, and unambiguous.


Upon his arrest, he named one Mueez Akande as his drug boss. Upon investigation, it was revealed that funds from Mr. Akande’s white heroin drug cartel had found its way into Mr. Tinubu’s account and that they could not be justified by his legitimate income, then which stood at about $2400 a month.


Bola Tinubu was found to have shared accommodation with the said Mr. Akande, who had been his known associate for years. And that rather than fight the charges of laundering money for a drug cartel, Bola Tinubu entered into a plea agreement with the US Federal Government to forfeit $460,000 in drug money to the government.


These are the undeniable FACTS!


The APC presidential candidate has not come out clean on the allegation. The fact that he entered a plea bargain, did not exonerate him of the offence!


The fact that they go in and out of US is not a proof that he was exonerated. If a US permanent resident is convicted and imprisoned and serves his sentence, he can fly in and out of America without hindrance.


The grounds for inadmissibility into the United States are found in Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (I.N.A.) and they do not apply to Bola Tinubu, who was carrying green card.


The fact remains that Bola Tinubu was involved in drug  case, and by accepting a plea bargain, in which he voluntarily agreed to forfeit his assets, rather than go to trial, he is seen in the eyes of the law to have admitted to being a drug lord.


Other controversies surrounding the Jagaban are his age, nativity and real name. Who is Tinubu? Who is his real father? Identity is very important. His identity is still shrouded in controversy.


Late Secretary General of Pan-Yoruba Cultural Organization, (Afenifere), Yinka Odumakin gave an insight into Tinubu’s origin and age. In a direct mail to him in 1999, Odumakin confirmed that he came from the same state with him – Osun. He went further to remind him that he came from Iragbiji. Odumakin, who obviously knew so much revealed that when Tinubu’s mother died, it  was Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi that led a delegation from Lagos that attended the burial, on  behalf of Tinubu. The reason was because, he had chosen another home and another family in Lagos. 


Tinubu should not be ashamed of his nativity, especially when almost every Yoruba in Lagos originated from somewhere, outside Lagos.


In 1999, Tinubu was quoted as saying that he was 66 years old. Odumakin, in the said memo to him, reminded him that one of the sons of Tinubu’s elder brother, had just celebrated his 63 years of age! And that he could not be senior to his nephew by just three years.


He also said that he saw a photograph of Tinubu taken in 1974 at the palace of Soun Ogbomoso, during the installation of the royal father. He said Tinubu was cooling off with a bottle of beer and a packet of cigarettes in his front, on the table. Odumakin rightly concluded that his age was seriously doctored, for no known reason.


The certificate controversy whirling around somebody of his stature is so unfortunate and sad. Yoruba people are very diligent when it comes to education and record keeping. It is very difficult to see a Yoruba man with questionable educational qualifications. Tinubu’s case is quite different and amazing.


Tinubu has once stated why he could not attend regular education, as other Yoruba children, citing poverty. The question is, why should he quote at all, in his 1999 INEC forms. And why should he removed them in 2003, when filling the same form? This is where allegation of perjury comes. He was not consistent with the information regarding his educational background.


Former political adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri gave insight into why Tinubu could not cite his primary school and secondary school background. He said, they could answer some questions surrounding his nativity, age and real name. Ordinarily, we don’t need this information in order to contest election. We need them for the sake of integrity and responsibility. 


Everybody comes from somewhere, no matter how poor and remote. MKO Abiola once told the world that he took egg for the first time in the house of his late wife, Simbiat, whose parents were relatively rich. Your background is who you  are. We shouldn’t be ashamed of it. It is part of accountability required of every human being and a responsible leader.


It is so sad that in this era, we are talking about academic certificate for somebody aspiring to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It means if he becomes president, we will be dealing with a leader with identity crisis. This raises many moral questions, for us, as a nation.


But who cares about morality and accountability in Nigeria, when it has to do with politics? Nobody! When will Nigeria produce a president that is a professor. When will the country have a president that is an engineer, a lawyer, a medical doctor, a surveyor, an accountant, et al?


The Buhari matter of 2015 is repeating itself in 2023, in Tinubu. Since 2015, the president of Nigeria has been submitting affidavits, in place of certificates, to INEC. Another question is, why are the presidential candidates of APC having issues with their certificates? 


Again, like Buhari his predecessor, Tinubu is dodging television or press interviews, with excuses. This is probably as a result of the various dirty  skeletons in his cupboard. Yet, this will not matter when we go to polls in 2023


 What manner of country is this?


A Professor of law, and Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo contested the APC presidential primary election with Tinubu, along with others. Osinbajo lost. Tinubu won. This is Nigeria! When you want to rule this country, you don’t need to go to school. The Nigerian electorate say, those that go to school only speak “grammar”; and that they are stingy. To be stingy as a politician, is that you don’t bribe voters with money, during elections.


This is the type of country we have. People with sound integrity and credible certificates cannot win elections


No responsible professor with his hard earned money will give $25,000 to one delegate, in order to win primary election. It is as immoral as it is fraudulent.


Tinubu is a shrew master strategist. He has always bought his way through all the challenges of his life, bearing in mind that he is grossly inadequate. Tinubu is a Mammon worshipper, like many of Nigerian politicians.


Tinubu can be likened to most of the emperor’s of ancient and medieval history, who ruled and dominated their environments by smooth plotting and brute coercion. He is a dictator par excellence. He is very arrogant!


What was his legitimate business before before 1999, when he became the governor of Lagos State? I don’t know. But we are aware that he could not properly fund his governorship election, in 1999. It was said that friends had to rally around him to help him print of his campaign materials and for other essential expenses. He had only a house in Lagos. According to Odumakin, the four cars he was using at that time belonged to one Solomon Ganiyu. There was nothing like Bourdillion Villa, in Victoria Island then.


Let us accept that Tinubu ran away from Nigeria because Sani Abacha’s military junta was looking for his head on a platter, as he claimed, being a NADECO activist. I presume that the first thing that should have naturally come to his mind after picking his transport fare was his school certificates. As we can see, he picked his bag, a few clothes and his money. And left his certificates behind, IF ANY! This is very hard to believe!


Nigeria is such an unlucky country. If Tinubu wins the next presidential election, we would be having a president we don’t really know. Buhari’s case in 2015 could be better. At least, we know that the president is from Daura in Katsina State, even though he is carrying WAEC ‘s “attestation certificate.”


The trend of voting political leaders with only affidavits should stop. In 2015, supporters of Buhari were quoted as saying that even if he was holding ‘toilet tissue paper’ or ‘NEPA bill’ as certificate, they would vote for him. And they did. We are again confronted with a similar situation, with Tinubu, in 2023. 


Tinubu’s age, nativity, real name, schools he attended have never mattered; and it will not matter in the next presidential election. We passed through this road before, up to Supreme Court. He has always won his legal cases, brought against him, as long as they are brought before Nigerian judges.


As Nigerians, we are not better than him. As the saying goes, those that vote such leaders in office are accomplices, not victims.


The issue of Tinubu’s certificates will not be on the next presidential ballot. Nobody in Nigeria wins election on the basis of integrity or educational attainment. What matters is the size and content of your bullion van. Tinubu already knows what to do in the next election. He should just deploy bullion vans to each of the 36 states of the country.


A bullion van for a state. This is the expected picture for the next presidential election.


GOD HELP NIGERIA!




SPONSORED ADS 👇👇


Support, Mobilise and Vote Labour Party in the forth coming general elections in Nigeria!!!

A NEW NIGERIA IS POSSIBLE!!!










You can not dissociate Bola Hamed Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar from Buhari led APC failures

You can not dissociate Bola Hamed Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar from Buhari led APC failures

 WHEN WOULD SOME NIGERIANS GROW AND MATURE SOCIOPOLITICALLY?









Late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo once said, "If you are emotionally attached to your tribe, religion, or political leaning to the point that truth and justice become secondary considerations, your education and exposure are useless. If you cannot reason beyond petty sentiments, you are a liability."


Yesterday I watched a random survey in Ibadan, Oyo State, conducted by Marabox TV who, of the three major Presidential Candidates, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi (in alphabetical order of their first names), the electorates may like votes for in February 2023. The surveyor did an excellent job asking each respondent if they have a PVC, which they all answered in the affirmative. By my count, 32 people were interviewed. 


Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi tied at 13 each, while Atiku was 3 and 3 undecideds.


Pause: If this is anything to go by, Southwest MIGHT be a straight fight between Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi. 


However, this is not my concern. What worries me is the reason the 13 responders of Bola Tinubu gave for wanting to vote Bola Ahmed Tinubu. None of them could provide a sound basis for voting Tinubu EXCEPT Yorubalokan/Emilokan. On further prompting, some said they didn't want to be seen as betrayers of their race. One stood out for me.


QUESTION: In the coming Presidential elections next year, which of the 3 candidates will you be voting for?


ANSWER: (with a broad smile on his face) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Jagaban


QUESTION: Why do you want to vote for Tinubu?


ANSWER: Because APC has disappointed us. This is not the change they promise us. We are suffering. (The tales of woes went on for a while.)


QUESTION: Do you know that Tinubu is a member of the APC, in fact, he is the leader of the APC party?


ANSWER: Yes, I know


QUESTION: And you still want to vote for him


ANSWER: Yes, because Tinubu is not Buhari, even though they are of the same party. Besides Tinubu is Yoruba and I am a Yoruba man!

 

The questionnaire could hardly disguise his disappointment as he visibly shook his head while thanking him for his answers.

 

MEE: So, they still want to vote for the leading player, the leader of the gang, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who aided and abetted APC/Buhari's disastrous government into power because he is Yoruba, all wrong forgotten. 


Chuba Okadigbo, quoted above, immediately came to mind at the end of the survey. Indeed, enslavement to tribal, religious, and other primordial sentiments has rendered our education useless and made us a liability to society as we cannot develop and progress at the pace we should be due to mutual distrust predicated on tribal and religious leanings. 


For example, the UK has just elected a PM of Indian lineage. German and Nigerian girls at the just concluded Under-17 women's world cup in India danced together to Buga song even though one of them came out victorious during the 3rd place encounter. Yet our fathers and mothers are still thinking of tribe and religion, celebrating and promoting failure to the detriment of our national cohesion and interests. 


How could one not see APC as the government in power is a total failure? A government that, as a political party in 2015 led by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and defected PDPs, including Atiku Abubakar, employed deadly force via Boko Haram and kidnapping of innocent schoolgirls to remove a sitting government. 


We breathe, live, sleep, walk and talk about the failures of the APC administration. Yet someone said Tinubu is not Buhari and pinned his hope on Tinubu to do better than Buhari! HOW? APC administration elevated nepotism to a dizzying height. The dollar, as I am typing this, is N1000! The cost of living has tripled, if not quadrupled. Killings, maiming, kidnapping, rampaging and destruction of properties and communities have become standard. 


On the world's poverty Index, Nigeria is 121 out of 123, 2nd year in a row. Our debts have outstripped our GDP. Buhari and Tinubu are now printing Naira to pay debt and shore up our currency with no end in sight. Our security apparatus is in disarray even though APC/Buhari's kit and kin are in charge. They are providing coverage to insurgents, kidnappers, bandits and unknown gunmen. Our educational system has completely collapsed. 


Our economy is comatose, which Tinubu contributed hugely to when he recommended Trader Moni and school feeding programs to Buhari. Both programs failed woefully and plunged the nation into colossal debt. The list of woes of the APC administration goes on.


APC/Buhari's administration has inflicted more harm on the fabric of Nigeria than all other administrations put together except during the civil war. We are now more conscious of our divisions and differences than ever before. It is now them against us. The heightened demand by ethnic groups for self-determination is a clear testimony. Yet some Nigerians see no wrong. Instead, they attempted to disassociate Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar from Buhari even though Tinubu has vowed to continue Buhari's legacy.

 

Please, the Almighty God, in humble supplication to YOU, may this bitter cup of affliction pass us. May we fast and pray that Tinubu does not win, NEVER AGAIN. There will be no change. The only difference will be taking Nigeria from the bottom, where Buhari stops, to a rotten situation and then turning it into a bad one.


REJECT tribe and religion as they never augur well for any country. Remember Rwanda, Congo, Sudan, Angola and many others. Eschew ethnicity.          


THINK Pan Nigerian. 


THINK and VOTE Wisely. 


Vote for Integrity. Vote for Capability. Vote for Competence. Vote for Courage to do what is right. 

It

Vote For Sustained Economic and Physical Development.

 

Vote to Take Our Country, Nigeria, back from wolves parading as leaders who have turned the stealing of our commonwealth into statecraft. 


Vote to bring Nigeria back from the precipice.


Source - Social media







Sponsored ads 👇👇









Sponsored ads 👇👇




 WHEN WOULD SOME NIGERIANS GROW AND MATURE SOCIOPOLITICALLY?









Late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo once said, "If you are emotionally attached to your tribe, religion, or political leaning to the point that truth and justice become secondary considerations, your education and exposure are useless. If you cannot reason beyond petty sentiments, you are a liability."


Yesterday I watched a random survey in Ibadan, Oyo State, conducted by Marabox TV who, of the three major Presidential Candidates, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi (in alphabetical order of their first names), the electorates may like votes for in February 2023. The surveyor did an excellent job asking each respondent if they have a PVC, which they all answered in the affirmative. By my count, 32 people were interviewed. 


Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi tied at 13 each, while Atiku was 3 and 3 undecideds.


Pause: If this is anything to go by, Southwest MIGHT be a straight fight between Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi. 


However, this is not my concern. What worries me is the reason the 13 responders of Bola Tinubu gave for wanting to vote Bola Ahmed Tinubu. None of them could provide a sound basis for voting Tinubu EXCEPT Yorubalokan/Emilokan. On further prompting, some said they didn't want to be seen as betrayers of their race. One stood out for me.


QUESTION: In the coming Presidential elections next year, which of the 3 candidates will you be voting for?


ANSWER: (with a broad smile on his face) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Jagaban


QUESTION: Why do you want to vote for Tinubu?


ANSWER: Because APC has disappointed us. This is not the change they promise us. We are suffering. (The tales of woes went on for a while.)


QUESTION: Do you know that Tinubu is a member of the APC, in fact, he is the leader of the APC party?


ANSWER: Yes, I know


QUESTION: And you still want to vote for him


ANSWER: Yes, because Tinubu is not Buhari, even though they are of the same party. Besides Tinubu is Yoruba and I am a Yoruba man!

 

The questionnaire could hardly disguise his disappointment as he visibly shook his head while thanking him for his answers.

 

MEE: So, they still want to vote for the leading player, the leader of the gang, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who aided and abetted APC/Buhari's disastrous government into power because he is Yoruba, all wrong forgotten. 


Chuba Okadigbo, quoted above, immediately came to mind at the end of the survey. Indeed, enslavement to tribal, religious, and other primordial sentiments has rendered our education useless and made us a liability to society as we cannot develop and progress at the pace we should be due to mutual distrust predicated on tribal and religious leanings. 


For example, the UK has just elected a PM of Indian lineage. German and Nigerian girls at the just concluded Under-17 women's world cup in India danced together to Buga song even though one of them came out victorious during the 3rd place encounter. Yet our fathers and mothers are still thinking of tribe and religion, celebrating and promoting failure to the detriment of our national cohesion and interests. 


How could one not see APC as the government in power is a total failure? A government that, as a political party in 2015 led by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and defected PDPs, including Atiku Abubakar, employed deadly force via Boko Haram and kidnapping of innocent schoolgirls to remove a sitting government. 


We breathe, live, sleep, walk and talk about the failures of the APC administration. Yet someone said Tinubu is not Buhari and pinned his hope on Tinubu to do better than Buhari! HOW? APC administration elevated nepotism to a dizzying height. The dollar, as I am typing this, is N1000! The cost of living has tripled, if not quadrupled. Killings, maiming, kidnapping, rampaging and destruction of properties and communities have become standard. 


On the world's poverty Index, Nigeria is 121 out of 123, 2nd year in a row. Our debts have outstripped our GDP. Buhari and Tinubu are now printing Naira to pay debt and shore up our currency with no end in sight. Our security apparatus is in disarray even though APC/Buhari's kit and kin are in charge. They are providing coverage to insurgents, kidnappers, bandits and unknown gunmen. Our educational system has completely collapsed. 


Our economy is comatose, which Tinubu contributed hugely to when he recommended Trader Moni and school feeding programs to Buhari. Both programs failed woefully and plunged the nation into colossal debt. The list of woes of the APC administration goes on.


APC/Buhari's administration has inflicted more harm on the fabric of Nigeria than all other administrations put together except during the civil war. We are now more conscious of our divisions and differences than ever before. It is now them against us. The heightened demand by ethnic groups for self-determination is a clear testimony. Yet some Nigerians see no wrong. Instead, they attempted to disassociate Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar from Buhari even though Tinubu has vowed to continue Buhari's legacy.

 

Please, the Almighty God, in humble supplication to YOU, may this bitter cup of affliction pass us. May we fast and pray that Tinubu does not win, NEVER AGAIN. There will be no change. The only difference will be taking Nigeria from the bottom, where Buhari stops, to a rotten situation and then turning it into a bad one.


REJECT tribe and religion as they never augur well for any country. Remember Rwanda, Congo, Sudan, Angola and many others. Eschew ethnicity.          


THINK Pan Nigerian. 


THINK and VOTE Wisely. 


Vote for Integrity. Vote for Capability. Vote for Competence. Vote for Courage to do what is right. 

It

Vote For Sustained Economic and Physical Development.

 

Vote to Take Our Country, Nigeria, back from wolves parading as leaders who have turned the stealing of our commonwealth into statecraft. 


Vote to bring Nigeria back from the precipice.


Source - Social media







Sponsored ads 👇👇









Sponsored ads 👇👇




Onu writes Buhari says Atiku, Tinubu are the ‘same ten and ten pence’—the two most influential henchmen of Nigeria’s ageless corrupt oligarchy

Onu writes Buhari says Atiku, Tinubu are the ‘same ten and ten pence’—the two most influential henchmen of Nigeria’s ageless corrupt oligarchy

 OGBONNAYA ONU, FORMER MINISTER WRITES BUHARI CONCERNING 2023 ELECTIONS!!


Dear President Muhammadu Buhari,

I hope this mail finds you in good spirits…

I must not fail to thank you once again for helping to deepen our democracy by leading the change movement that saw an opposition party capture power at the centre for the first time in Nigerian history. We did so at a time when the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party had boasted that it would rule for unbroken 60 years whether the people liked it or not. We were able to make such a defining history because of your austere and incorrigible pedigree. We believed history had placed you in a position to become the greatest African leader—ever.


Unfortunately, fellow Nigerians, including your very self, have found out the hard way: Any serious setback from old age or ill-health is not a recipe for effective leadership. Make no mistake: One must not mock old age or ill-health, as these conditions are in most cases beyond human control. Moreover, our basic norms dictate that we show empathy for the adversities of others. Yet, it is a gross disservice to humankind for politicians who are challenged by either old age or ill-health to knowingly offer themselves for positions where such infirmities can hinder their performance.


Fmr Emir Sanusi
 and Peter Obi

The significance of physical fitness in leadership explains why candidates seeking power in advanced democracies undergo vigorous health scrutiny before voters can take them seriously. Mr President, you are a living witness. You have not hidden the fact that the challenges associated with old age do not augur well with the demands of your office. It is not surprising, therefore, that you have not been able to perform to the best of your abilities.


To make matters worse, the National Leader of our dear party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the master strategist, who was supposed to serve as a stabilising force, is suffering from a similar sad fate. His predicament is even worse. Within the past seven years, he has domiciled in foreign hospitals more than you have done. Needless to mention that his recent public outings do not portray a man who is physically or mentally fit for any serious party leadership.


The cumulative effect is that things have truly fallen apart in our party, as well as Nigeria in general. Today, the level of corruption, which you had declared would kill Nigeria unless Nigeria kills it, is now unfathomable. Today, our party—the All Progressives Congress—with Tinubu as its national leader, has become a safe haven for notorious corrupt kingpins who were indicted while at the PDP. Today, our party does not appear to have any ideological, moral or ethical difference from the much-discredited PDP.


The most shameless yet is that the APC has nominated the same Tinubu as its presidential candidate for the upcoming 2023 elections. The implication is that corruption has been embraced as a way of life under your very own regime. Common sense dictates that, if Tinubu is to prevail, but may God forbid, you would be handing over to a politician who is not only challenged by the stark frailties of poor health and old age but also someone who is widely disdained for being one of the most cancerous poster characters for corruption in Africa. Mr President, if Tinubu prevails, you will go down in history as the most shameless political hypocrite—ever.


It is necessary to remark here that I do not discount the contributions of Tinubu in Nigerian history. Eulogising him in a 2017 piece, “I pity Tinubu,” I did not hesitate to write that “if dynamic opposition is the life-wire of democracy, it is very fitting then to name him the saviour of Nigeria’s current democratic journey. Tinubu, more than any other Nigerian, nurtured and sustained the opposition movement that removed the Peoples Democratic Party from power.”


However, as someone who has professed political leadership for decades in many advanced democracies, I definitely know the difference between the qualities of a political strategist and the qualities of a president of a country.


I must also admit that Tinubu could not have been a candidate you would wish as a successor. You wanted a level playing ground in our party. But the corrupt cabal within the APC took advantage of your condition to outwit you and hand the prize to the highest bidder. Take, for example, Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign Council, where he hoodwinked you to become its chairman. Look at the kind of re-cycled corrupt characters therein. Mr President, why are you allowing these characters to further tarnish your image? The saving grace is that the 2023 presidential election presents a golden opportunity to not only redeem your incorrigible legacy but to also save Nigeria from total collapse.

The three candidates with the potential to succeed you are Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Bola Tinubu.


On one hand, we can both agree that Atiku and Tinubu are the ‘same ten and ten pence’—the two most influential henchmen of Nigeria’s ageless corrupt oligarchy. In short, to elect any of the two is an errant sin. Please do not have a hand in such a shameless fall from grace. If still in doubt, besides their poor health conditions, please consider that neither of them can in good conscience campaign against corruption. Combine that with the fact that no Nigerian leader, whether military or civilian, has ever assumed the governance of the country with the type of corrupt background well known of Atiku and Tinubu. Think back, Mr President!!


On the other hand, we have Peter Obi of the Labour Party. Like you, he is well known for the frugal management of resources and has no record of corruption. Like you, he does not buy votes. Like you, he is determined to kill corruption, as you would wish. Like you in 2015, instead of waiting till election day to deploy looted funds to rig elections, Obi has demonstrated the physical ability to traverse the entire country to ask for votes. Luckily for you and Nigeria, unlike you, he is younger and in a better state of health to overcome the unfortunate frailties that hindered your performance. Moreover, he has a clear vision and the character to unleash Nigeria’s abundant potential to greatness.


Of course, I can relate to the burden associated with promoting a candidate of the opposition party. But as I had stated while equally endorsing Obi, we must not hide behind the bogus toga of political parties, tribes and religions to allow a crooked clique to dictate our future. I emulated President Olusegun Obasanjo and other progressives, who chose country over party to endorse you in 2015. I took a page from Colin Powell, an eminent American patriot and lifelong member of the Republican Party, who crossed party lines to endorse Barack Obama of the Democratic Party in 2008. Powell saw Obama as a transformational figure who could inspire a new generation of Americans.


President Muhammadu “Okechukwu” Buhari, your moment in time is now. A new generation of Nigerians beckons you to stand on the right side of history. The posterity beckons you to recognise that the 2023 election is a struggle between the nation’s corrupt oligarchy versus progressive Nigerians anchored by Mr Obi. The posterity beckons you to also demonstrate true patriotism by choosing country over religious, ethnic and party affiliations. The posterity beckons you to then go forth and endorse Obi, an untainted character, a quintessential patriot, a visionary and a generational figure, who has come to represent the democratic revolution the Nigerian masses, as well as your very self, have long sought.

 OGBONNAYA ONU, FORMER MINISTER WRITES BUHARI CONCERNING 2023 ELECTIONS!!


Dear President Muhammadu Buhari,

I hope this mail finds you in good spirits…

I must not fail to thank you once again for helping to deepen our democracy by leading the change movement that saw an opposition party capture power at the centre for the first time in Nigerian history. We did so at a time when the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party had boasted that it would rule for unbroken 60 years whether the people liked it or not. We were able to make such a defining history because of your austere and incorrigible pedigree. We believed history had placed you in a position to become the greatest African leader—ever.


Unfortunately, fellow Nigerians, including your very self, have found out the hard way: Any serious setback from old age or ill-health is not a recipe for effective leadership. Make no mistake: One must not mock old age or ill-health, as these conditions are in most cases beyond human control. Moreover, our basic norms dictate that we show empathy for the adversities of others. Yet, it is a gross disservice to humankind for politicians who are challenged by either old age or ill-health to knowingly offer themselves for positions where such infirmities can hinder their performance.


Fmr Emir Sanusi
 and Peter Obi

The significance of physical fitness in leadership explains why candidates seeking power in advanced democracies undergo vigorous health scrutiny before voters can take them seriously. Mr President, you are a living witness. You have not hidden the fact that the challenges associated with old age do not augur well with the demands of your office. It is not surprising, therefore, that you have not been able to perform to the best of your abilities.


To make matters worse, the National Leader of our dear party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the master strategist, who was supposed to serve as a stabilising force, is suffering from a similar sad fate. His predicament is even worse. Within the past seven years, he has domiciled in foreign hospitals more than you have done. Needless to mention that his recent public outings do not portray a man who is physically or mentally fit for any serious party leadership.


The cumulative effect is that things have truly fallen apart in our party, as well as Nigeria in general. Today, the level of corruption, which you had declared would kill Nigeria unless Nigeria kills it, is now unfathomable. Today, our party—the All Progressives Congress—with Tinubu as its national leader, has become a safe haven for notorious corrupt kingpins who were indicted while at the PDP. Today, our party does not appear to have any ideological, moral or ethical difference from the much-discredited PDP.


The most shameless yet is that the APC has nominated the same Tinubu as its presidential candidate for the upcoming 2023 elections. The implication is that corruption has been embraced as a way of life under your very own regime. Common sense dictates that, if Tinubu is to prevail, but may God forbid, you would be handing over to a politician who is not only challenged by the stark frailties of poor health and old age but also someone who is widely disdained for being one of the most cancerous poster characters for corruption in Africa. Mr President, if Tinubu prevails, you will go down in history as the most shameless political hypocrite—ever.


It is necessary to remark here that I do not discount the contributions of Tinubu in Nigerian history. Eulogising him in a 2017 piece, “I pity Tinubu,” I did not hesitate to write that “if dynamic opposition is the life-wire of democracy, it is very fitting then to name him the saviour of Nigeria’s current democratic journey. Tinubu, more than any other Nigerian, nurtured and sustained the opposition movement that removed the Peoples Democratic Party from power.”


However, as someone who has professed political leadership for decades in many advanced democracies, I definitely know the difference between the qualities of a political strategist and the qualities of a president of a country.


I must also admit that Tinubu could not have been a candidate you would wish as a successor. You wanted a level playing ground in our party. But the corrupt cabal within the APC took advantage of your condition to outwit you and hand the prize to the highest bidder. Take, for example, Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign Council, where he hoodwinked you to become its chairman. Look at the kind of re-cycled corrupt characters therein. Mr President, why are you allowing these characters to further tarnish your image? The saving grace is that the 2023 presidential election presents a golden opportunity to not only redeem your incorrigible legacy but to also save Nigeria from total collapse.

The three candidates with the potential to succeed you are Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Bola Tinubu.


On one hand, we can both agree that Atiku and Tinubu are the ‘same ten and ten pence’—the two most influential henchmen of Nigeria’s ageless corrupt oligarchy. In short, to elect any of the two is an errant sin. Please do not have a hand in such a shameless fall from grace. If still in doubt, besides their poor health conditions, please consider that neither of them can in good conscience campaign against corruption. Combine that with the fact that no Nigerian leader, whether military or civilian, has ever assumed the governance of the country with the type of corrupt background well known of Atiku and Tinubu. Think back, Mr President!!


On the other hand, we have Peter Obi of the Labour Party. Like you, he is well known for the frugal management of resources and has no record of corruption. Like you, he does not buy votes. Like you, he is determined to kill corruption, as you would wish. Like you in 2015, instead of waiting till election day to deploy looted funds to rig elections, Obi has demonstrated the physical ability to traverse the entire country to ask for votes. Luckily for you and Nigeria, unlike you, he is younger and in a better state of health to overcome the unfortunate frailties that hindered your performance. Moreover, he has a clear vision and the character to unleash Nigeria’s abundant potential to greatness.


Of course, I can relate to the burden associated with promoting a candidate of the opposition party. But as I had stated while equally endorsing Obi, we must not hide behind the bogus toga of political parties, tribes and religions to allow a crooked clique to dictate our future. I emulated President Olusegun Obasanjo and other progressives, who chose country over party to endorse you in 2015. I took a page from Colin Powell, an eminent American patriot and lifelong member of the Republican Party, who crossed party lines to endorse Barack Obama of the Democratic Party in 2008. Powell saw Obama as a transformational figure who could inspire a new generation of Americans.


President Muhammadu “Okechukwu” Buhari, your moment in time is now. A new generation of Nigerians beckons you to stand on the right side of history. The posterity beckons you to recognise that the 2023 election is a struggle between the nation’s corrupt oligarchy versus progressive Nigerians anchored by Mr Obi. The posterity beckons you to also demonstrate true patriotism by choosing country over religious, ethnic and party affiliations. The posterity beckons you to then go forth and endorse Obi, an untainted character, a quintessential patriot, a visionary and a generational figure, who has come to represent the democratic revolution the Nigerian masses, as well as your very self, have long sought.

Corruption Allegations: Court says Malami should be bold enough to sue, GICN to pay #100k each to Sowore, Sahara Reports, Punch NewsPapers, others

Corruption Allegations: Court says Malami should be bold enough to sue, GICN to pay #100k each to Sowore, Sahara Reports, Punch NewsPapers, others





A Federal High Court Sitting in Abuja has told Nigeria's AGF Abubakar Malami to be bold enough to sue over corruption allegations against him without hiding behind any phony “Global Integrity Crusade Network.”

Justice Obiora Egwuatu in his judgement which throws away the GICN case considered it a waste if time.


 The Lawsuit which was against Omoyele Sowore and Sahara Reporters was struck out! 


The judge ordered Global Integrity Crusade Network” and their trustees to pay to Saharareporters, Vanguard News, Punch Newspapers and Omoyele Sowore a sum of N100k each for wasting their time!


Just yesterday, another federal high court order Nigeria's lawless DSS to pay a sum of #2m to Sowore and apologize in at least two National dailies for illegal forfeiture of his phones since 2019.





A Federal High Court Sitting in Abuja has told Nigeria's AGF Abubakar Malami to be bold enough to sue over corruption allegations against him without hiding behind any phony “Global Integrity Crusade Network.”

Justice Obiora Egwuatu in his judgement which throws away the GICN case considered it a waste if time.


 The Lawsuit which was against Omoyele Sowore and Sahara Reporters was struck out! 


The judge ordered Global Integrity Crusade Network” and their trustees to pay to Saharareporters, Vanguard News, Punch Newspapers and Omoyele Sowore a sum of N100k each for wasting their time!


Just yesterday, another federal high court order Nigeria's lawless DSS to pay a sum of #2m to Sowore and apologize in at least two National dailies for illegal forfeiture of his phones since 2019.

Alleged N4.6bn Fraud: Court Adjourns Fani-Kayode Others’ Trial Till Feb. 24

Alleged N4.6bn Fraud: Court Adjourns Fani-Kayode Others’ Trial Till Feb. 24


Justice Daniel Osaigor of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, adjourned till February 24, 2022 further hearing in the alleged N4.6bn fraud involving a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode and others.


Fani-Kayode is standing trial alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenadi Usman, a former Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, Yusuf Danjuma, and a company, Join-Trust Dimensions Nigeria Ltd. on a 17-count charge bordering money laundering to the tune of N4.6billion.

Justice Daniel Osaigor of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, adjourned till February 24, 2022 further hearing in the alleged N4.6bn fraud involving a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode and others.


Fani-Kayode is standing trial alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenadi Usman, a former Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, Yusuf Danjuma, and a company, Join-Trust Dimensions Nigeria Ltd. on a 17-count charge bordering money laundering to the tune of N4.6billion.

Appeal Court in Lagos Affirms Forfeiture of Diezani’s $40m Jewelry to FG

Appeal Court in Lagos Affirms Forfeiture of Diezani’s $40m Jewelry to FG


The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on Friday, November 26, 2021, affirmed the forfeiture of a $40 million worth of jewelry belonging to a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to the Federal Government.


Justice I.N. Oweibo of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos , had, on Tuesday, September 10, 2019, ordered the final forfeiture of the jewelry and a customized gold Iphone valued at $40m belonging to Allison-Madueke, to the FG.


The Judge had, earlier on July 5, 2019, granted the interim forfeiture of the properties, following an ex parte application filed by the EFCC. For details of this and other stories.


By EFCC


The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on Friday, November 26, 2021, affirmed the forfeiture of a $40 million worth of jewelry belonging to a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to the Federal Government.


Justice I.N. Oweibo of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos , had, on Tuesday, September 10, 2019, ordered the final forfeiture of the jewelry and a customized gold Iphone valued at $40m belonging to Allison-Madueke, to the FG.


The Judge had, earlier on July 5, 2019, granted the interim forfeiture of the properties, following an ex parte application filed by the EFCC. For details of this and other stories.


By EFCC

BUSTED! YAHAYA BELLO's stolen N19.3bn Kogi Salary Bail-Out Funds Returned to CBN

BUSTED! YAHAYA BELLO's stolen N19.3bn Kogi Salary Bail-Out Funds Returned to CBN


The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has acknowledged the receipt of the sum of N19, 333,333,333.36 (Nineteen Billion, Three Hundred and Thirty-three Million, Three Hundred and Thirty-three Thousand, Three Hundred and Thirty-three Naira, Thirty-six Kobo) recovered by the EFCC from the Kogi State Salary Bail-out account domiciled in Sterling Bank Plc. 


This effectively puts to rest the campaign of misinformation and unconscionable denials by the Kogi State Government that no fund was recovered from its bail out account. 


The apex bank in a letter referenced, DFD/DIR/CON/EXT/01/099 and dated 9th November, 2021 informed the Executive Chairman, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa that it has received the money. 


The letter reads in part: “We refer to your letter dated November 5, 2021 with Ref. No: CR:3000/EFCC/LS/CMU/REC-STE/VOL.4/047 on the above subject and wish to confirm the details of the receipt of the amount as stated below: Bank: Sterling Bank Plc; Amount:  N19, 333, 333,333.36; Date of receipt: 04 November, 2021”. 


The return of the money to the apex bank  is in compliance with the October 15, 2021 Order of a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi Lagos directing the unfreezing of the Kogi State Salary Bail-out account to enable Sterling Bank to remit the balance in the account to the Central Ban of Nigeria. Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke gave the Order pursuant to an application filed by the EFCC. 


The Commission had told the court that the management of Sterling Bank Plc, where the account was domiciled had acknowledged the existence of the said account with the staggering sum of N19, 333,333,333.36 in its books. 


The Commission further brought to the attention of the court that “The sum of N19, 333,333,333.36 is still standing in the credit of the account .


#RevolutionNow BuhariMustGo  #NoGoingBack


The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has acknowledged the receipt of the sum of N19, 333,333,333.36 (Nineteen Billion, Three Hundred and Thirty-three Million, Three Hundred and Thirty-three Thousand, Three Hundred and Thirty-three Naira, Thirty-six Kobo) recovered by the EFCC from the Kogi State Salary Bail-out account domiciled in Sterling Bank Plc. 


This effectively puts to rest the campaign of misinformation and unconscionable denials by the Kogi State Government that no fund was recovered from its bail out account. 


The apex bank in a letter referenced, DFD/DIR/CON/EXT/01/099 and dated 9th November, 2021 informed the Executive Chairman, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa that it has received the money. 


The letter reads in part: “We refer to your letter dated November 5, 2021 with Ref. No: CR:3000/EFCC/LS/CMU/REC-STE/VOL.4/047 on the above subject and wish to confirm the details of the receipt of the amount as stated below: Bank: Sterling Bank Plc; Amount:  N19, 333, 333,333.36; Date of receipt: 04 November, 2021”. 


The return of the money to the apex bank  is in compliance with the October 15, 2021 Order of a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi Lagos directing the unfreezing of the Kogi State Salary Bail-out account to enable Sterling Bank to remit the balance in the account to the Central Ban of Nigeria. Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke gave the Order pursuant to an application filed by the EFCC. 


The Commission had told the court that the management of Sterling Bank Plc, where the account was domiciled had acknowledged the existence of the said account with the staggering sum of N19, 333,333,333.36 in its books. 


The Commission further brought to the attention of the court that “The sum of N19, 333,333,333.36 is still standing in the credit of the account .


#RevolutionNow BuhariMustGo  #NoGoingBack

EXCLUSIVE: Nigerian Army Promotes Commanding Officer, Bello Who Supervised Killing Of #EndSARS Protesters At Lekki Toll Gate

EXCLUSIVE: Nigerian Army Promotes Commanding Officer, Bello Who Supervised Killing Of #EndSARS Protesters At Lekki Toll Gate

 









Lt Col S.O. Bello who led the massacre of the peaceful protesters at the Lekki toll gate has just been promoted to the rank of a Colonel, sources within the Nigerian military confirmed.


While many are still unaccounted for, according to the report by the panel of enquires, at least nine persons were confirmed dead at the Lekki toll plaza when soldiers led by Bello stormed there to disperse #EndSARS protesters on October 20, 2020.


Titled, ‘Report of Lekki Incident Investigation Of 20th October 2020’, a copy of the 309-page report which was leaked said at least 48 protesters were either shot dead, injured with bullet wounds or assaulted by soldiers.


Major Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Taiwo of the 81 Division Intelligence Brigade had while appearing before the Lagos Judicial Panel in November 2020 revealed that Bello was the commander on the ground, who gave the order for the soldiers to release bullets at the toll gate.


He had said, “Bello had arrived the scene first before Omata, as the whole 81 Division Garrison had been given the mandate to secure the whole Eti-Osa corridor. Omata had left Obalende to meet up with Bello and patrol the whole area.


“When I called Bello, he said that while they were being deployed, they were attacked by hoodlums and they released some shots into the air. I also asked him if anybody had died as it is being reported over the Internet and he replied ‘negative’ that nobody died.


Military sources on Thursday said Bello, despite leading the team that unleashed mayhem on defenceless protesters, has been promoted to the rank of a Colonel.


“Lt Col S.O. Bello has just been promoted to the rank of a Colonel. He is the commanding officer who led the Lekki massacre,” one of the sources, a colonel confirmed the report.


#RevolutionNow BuhariMustGo  #NoGoingBack  

#EndSARS #EndPoliceBrutality


 









Lt Col S.O. Bello who led the massacre of the peaceful protesters at the Lekki toll gate has just been promoted to the rank of a Colonel, sources within the Nigerian military confirmed.


While many are still unaccounted for, according to the report by the panel of enquires, at least nine persons were confirmed dead at the Lekki toll plaza when soldiers led by Bello stormed there to disperse #EndSARS protesters on October 20, 2020.


Titled, ‘Report of Lekki Incident Investigation Of 20th October 2020’, a copy of the 309-page report which was leaked said at least 48 protesters were either shot dead, injured with bullet wounds or assaulted by soldiers.


Major Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Taiwo of the 81 Division Intelligence Brigade had while appearing before the Lagos Judicial Panel in November 2020 revealed that Bello was the commander on the ground, who gave the order for the soldiers to release bullets at the toll gate.


He had said, “Bello had arrived the scene first before Omata, as the whole 81 Division Garrison had been given the mandate to secure the whole Eti-Osa corridor. Omata had left Obalende to meet up with Bello and patrol the whole area.


“When I called Bello, he said that while they were being deployed, they were attacked by hoodlums and they released some shots into the air. I also asked him if anybody had died as it is being reported over the Internet and he replied ‘negative’ that nobody died.


Military sources on Thursday said Bello, despite leading the team that unleashed mayhem on defenceless protesters, has been promoted to the rank of a Colonel.


“Lt Col S.O. Bello has just been promoted to the rank of a Colonel. He is the commanding officer who led the Lekki massacre,” one of the sources, a colonel confirmed the report.


#RevolutionNow BuhariMustGo  #NoGoingBack  

#EndSARS #EndPoliceBrutality


HOW TO BE A NIGERIAN

HOW TO BE A NIGERIAN

By Peter Enahoro (now 86 years old and a Journalist Extraordinaire)


###COPIED FROM SOCIAL MEDIA###


 _*How To Be A Nigerian was first published in the 1960s as a series of columns in the Daily Times. It became a bestselling book that was re-published in 1996. Almost six decades later, Enahoro’s brilliant satirical enquiry into identity, nationalism and inventiveness is still the definitive guide.*_ 


*To be a Nigerian, you must learn the lesson that nothing is ever fair, that indeed anything is possible, and you may have to pay your way through life by offering and taking bribe to facilitate many of life’s processes. Babies are switched at birth in Nigeria and offered for sale; to leave the hospital with the right baby, and not fall victim of cradle-snatchers, you may have to pay the nurses a little ‘something’ to guarantee their loyalty. Or better still you may have to patronise an expensive hospital where reputation is still important.*


*Death is equally expensive in this country. Mortuaries and cemeteries are raided for spare parts by ritualists and their agents. To ensure that your beloved reaches the gates of Heaven or Hell, without a missing ear, tongue or genitalia, you have to pay the mortuary and cemetery attendants to have mercy on the dead from your household. Being alive in Nigeria is worse. Every activity involving life and movement has to be facilitated with cash. It is not for nothing that Nigeria is the second most corrupt country in the world. This is not a country of saints.*


*If you insist that you will not offer bribe, then you face a long life of frustration. You will never be able to get anything done. In Nigeria, parents pay a special fee to get their children into schools from nursery to the university. If you are a Nigerian parent, you may also discover that teachers need to be bribed before your child can pass examinations. To be a Nigerian truly, you must realise that official rules and regulations serve very little purpose. The meaning of the law depends on the man in charge of a particular office at a particular time. Positions and uniforms are to be respected by all means. Policemen, customs and immigration officials live on bribe. Local government officials expect you to grease their palms. To bend the law, you must pay a token fee, and once you do so, you are offered a special salute by the policeman on the highway or the immigrations officer at the border and allowed to do exactly as you wish. Thus, to be a Nigerian, you must learn to beat the system.*


*The law can be bought. Justice is available for the highest bidder. The man who is loaded with more cash than sense is king. If you can flaunt wealth, your contemporaries will worship the very ground on which you walk. Just get rich by any means and as quickly as possible. Nobody will dare question the source of the wealth. With money, you can buy the protection of the state. The high and the low will queue up at your doorstep to pay homage; what they really want is their own share of your loot. Traditional rulers will offer you chieftaincy titles. The state will offer you national honours. Women will throw themselves at your feet. And not just any woman, but the most beautiful ones who used to be beyond your reach. Newspapers will name you among the most fashionable men in society. A rich man is always fashionable. I have never heard of a poor man being labelled the best-dressed Nigerian. To be a Nigerian, you must be loud with your wealth and accomplishments. Even if you are poor, you must carry on with life with a certain swagger. Don’t ever forget that you are a Nigerian; your country is the sixth largest producer of crude oil in the world, the most populous black nation on earth, and the home of the happiest people in the universe.*


*Indeed, to be a Nigerian, you must be an optimist. This is the only way to survive in a country where there is so much distance between government and the people in the form of widespread poverty, incompetence in high places, and established disregard for the rights of citizens. The roads are bad, electricity supply is epileptic, salaries are not paid on time, there is food scarcity, and the scarcity as well of the basic necessities of life, but you must learn to take everything in your stride. To be a Nigerian, you must see even death, any death at all, in a positive light. You live in a country where accidents are common and death is cheap.*


*In the midst of it all, you must learn to be joyous. Every weekend, attend a party, wear the best clothes in your wardrobe, and tell yourself that the biggest achievement that any man can be proud of is to remain alive. It doesn’t matter if you are trapped in squalor. If you are lucky to have some means, then you are truly lucky. You can throw parties everyday if you wish. You can even dictate the kind of women you want at the parties and the kind of clothes that they must wear. You would be surprised that there are many women, including housewives, who are ready to appear half-naked just to be seen among the happening crowd in society. If you are rich, then you can create your own government inside Nigeria by providing your own basic amenities, and using the state to rob the poor.*


*If you are lucky enough to have a small business of your own with employees working under you, then you do not have to pay salaries. Nobody is going to arrest you for failing to pay your own workers. If the workers are not happy, they are free to go. But because they are Nigerians, they are not likely to resign en masse. They too will find a way. They will steal from your company. They will use company time to do business on the side. One day, try and investigate your workers, the same ones who are complaining about salaries and poor conditions of service. You will be surprised that this is the only country in which a messenger who has not been paid for six months lives in a mansion of his own. Your managers have houses abroad. Your directors have their children in foreign schools. And you begin to wonder whether indeed a Nigerian labourer deserves his wages.*


*To remain sane as a Nigerian, you must be religious. And you must advertise your piety. Sleep in the church. Proclaim your religiosity from the rooftops. Mention God’s name in every conversation. In a land where there is so much madness, religion offers you the only opportunity to cling on to a measure of holiness. It is the only way to remind yourself that you are human after all, and that there is something that you still believe in. There are too many forces compelling you to disbelieve the very existence of God: you will see highly placed persons who are no better than scoundrels; wives of important persons who are no better than cheap prostitutes; men and women of power who are sexual perverts; fraudsters and common criminals who are nevertheless accorded the respect that they do not deserve; children who have sold their souls to devil; young girls who are in the hands of men who are old enough to be their fathers; and housewives who should be in Hell. To be a Nigerian, you can only look at all these and take your troubled soul to God.*


*If you are unable to cope, perhaps you might consider the option of exile. There are many Nigerians abroad eking out a living as economic refugees. Unable to cope with the many disasters of life in the country of their birth, they have fled to other countries where there is less stress and shock. To be a Nigerian, you must ordinarily learn to live with shock. This is a country where anything can happen. Public buildings go up in flames routinely. Bombs can explode anyhow in busy neighbourhoods, claiming lives and property, and even government officials join the people to express frustration and anxiety. This is a country where the police run away from criminals. It is a country where criminals consider themselves gentlemen and are so treated in many ways. Politicians are not interested in public service; they want access to the public treasury so they can steal a part of the national cake.*


*To be a Nigerian, you must learn to relate to the National Anthem as if it were a disco tune. I have heard versions of the national anthem which belong more to the hip-hop genre. The average Nigerian considers the anthem a joke. There is a musician who has even worked out a remix version of the song, and it is played regularly in disco halls. To be a Nigerian, you must take life as one long joke. Don’t bother about patriotism. You will be better served by ethnic affiliations. If you feel you are not getting your due in certain circumstances, allege that you are being discriminated against on ethnic grounds. Link up with persons of your own tribe, and get them to push advantages in your direction. It doesn’t matter whether you are qualified or not. This is not a country where merit counts for much. Sycophants, mediocre persons and hypocrites stand a better chance of getting up the ladder than a man of talent. They know what to say in the right places. They are experts at blackmailing competitive and able rivals. For such persons, life itself is about politics, and they are prepared to push down anyone who stands in their way.*


*To be a Nigerian, you must always remember this: you are in the midst of Sharks. Every other Nigerian has a small dagger in his pocket, hoping to draw blood. Get your own dagger! Be on your guard. And may God be with you...*.

By Peter Enahoro (now 86 years old and a Journalist Extraordinaire)


###COPIED FROM SOCIAL MEDIA###


 _*How To Be A Nigerian was first published in the 1960s as a series of columns in the Daily Times. It became a bestselling book that was re-published in 1996. Almost six decades later, Enahoro’s brilliant satirical enquiry into identity, nationalism and inventiveness is still the definitive guide.*_ 


*To be a Nigerian, you must learn the lesson that nothing is ever fair, that indeed anything is possible, and you may have to pay your way through life by offering and taking bribe to facilitate many of life’s processes. Babies are switched at birth in Nigeria and offered for sale; to leave the hospital with the right baby, and not fall victim of cradle-snatchers, you may have to pay the nurses a little ‘something’ to guarantee their loyalty. Or better still you may have to patronise an expensive hospital where reputation is still important.*


*Death is equally expensive in this country. Mortuaries and cemeteries are raided for spare parts by ritualists and their agents. To ensure that your beloved reaches the gates of Heaven or Hell, without a missing ear, tongue or genitalia, you have to pay the mortuary and cemetery attendants to have mercy on the dead from your household. Being alive in Nigeria is worse. Every activity involving life and movement has to be facilitated with cash. It is not for nothing that Nigeria is the second most corrupt country in the world. This is not a country of saints.*


*If you insist that you will not offer bribe, then you face a long life of frustration. You will never be able to get anything done. In Nigeria, parents pay a special fee to get their children into schools from nursery to the university. If you are a Nigerian parent, you may also discover that teachers need to be bribed before your child can pass examinations. To be a Nigerian truly, you must realise that official rules and regulations serve very little purpose. The meaning of the law depends on the man in charge of a particular office at a particular time. Positions and uniforms are to be respected by all means. Policemen, customs and immigration officials live on bribe. Local government officials expect you to grease their palms. To bend the law, you must pay a token fee, and once you do so, you are offered a special salute by the policeman on the highway or the immigrations officer at the border and allowed to do exactly as you wish. Thus, to be a Nigerian, you must learn to beat the system.*


*The law can be bought. Justice is available for the highest bidder. The man who is loaded with more cash than sense is king. If you can flaunt wealth, your contemporaries will worship the very ground on which you walk. Just get rich by any means and as quickly as possible. Nobody will dare question the source of the wealth. With money, you can buy the protection of the state. The high and the low will queue up at your doorstep to pay homage; what they really want is their own share of your loot. Traditional rulers will offer you chieftaincy titles. The state will offer you national honours. Women will throw themselves at your feet. And not just any woman, but the most beautiful ones who used to be beyond your reach. Newspapers will name you among the most fashionable men in society. A rich man is always fashionable. I have never heard of a poor man being labelled the best-dressed Nigerian. To be a Nigerian, you must be loud with your wealth and accomplishments. Even if you are poor, you must carry on with life with a certain swagger. Don’t ever forget that you are a Nigerian; your country is the sixth largest producer of crude oil in the world, the most populous black nation on earth, and the home of the happiest people in the universe.*


*Indeed, to be a Nigerian, you must be an optimist. This is the only way to survive in a country where there is so much distance between government and the people in the form of widespread poverty, incompetence in high places, and established disregard for the rights of citizens. The roads are bad, electricity supply is epileptic, salaries are not paid on time, there is food scarcity, and the scarcity as well of the basic necessities of life, but you must learn to take everything in your stride. To be a Nigerian, you must see even death, any death at all, in a positive light. You live in a country where accidents are common and death is cheap.*


*In the midst of it all, you must learn to be joyous. Every weekend, attend a party, wear the best clothes in your wardrobe, and tell yourself that the biggest achievement that any man can be proud of is to remain alive. It doesn’t matter if you are trapped in squalor. If you are lucky to have some means, then you are truly lucky. You can throw parties everyday if you wish. You can even dictate the kind of women you want at the parties and the kind of clothes that they must wear. You would be surprised that there are many women, including housewives, who are ready to appear half-naked just to be seen among the happening crowd in society. If you are rich, then you can create your own government inside Nigeria by providing your own basic amenities, and using the state to rob the poor.*


*If you are lucky enough to have a small business of your own with employees working under you, then you do not have to pay salaries. Nobody is going to arrest you for failing to pay your own workers. If the workers are not happy, they are free to go. But because they are Nigerians, they are not likely to resign en masse. They too will find a way. They will steal from your company. They will use company time to do business on the side. One day, try and investigate your workers, the same ones who are complaining about salaries and poor conditions of service. You will be surprised that this is the only country in which a messenger who has not been paid for six months lives in a mansion of his own. Your managers have houses abroad. Your directors have their children in foreign schools. And you begin to wonder whether indeed a Nigerian labourer deserves his wages.*


*To remain sane as a Nigerian, you must be religious. And you must advertise your piety. Sleep in the church. Proclaim your religiosity from the rooftops. Mention God’s name in every conversation. In a land where there is so much madness, religion offers you the only opportunity to cling on to a measure of holiness. It is the only way to remind yourself that you are human after all, and that there is something that you still believe in. There are too many forces compelling you to disbelieve the very existence of God: you will see highly placed persons who are no better than scoundrels; wives of important persons who are no better than cheap prostitutes; men and women of power who are sexual perverts; fraudsters and common criminals who are nevertheless accorded the respect that they do not deserve; children who have sold their souls to devil; young girls who are in the hands of men who are old enough to be their fathers; and housewives who should be in Hell. To be a Nigerian, you can only look at all these and take your troubled soul to God.*


*If you are unable to cope, perhaps you might consider the option of exile. There are many Nigerians abroad eking out a living as economic refugees. Unable to cope with the many disasters of life in the country of their birth, they have fled to other countries where there is less stress and shock. To be a Nigerian, you must ordinarily learn to live with shock. This is a country where anything can happen. Public buildings go up in flames routinely. Bombs can explode anyhow in busy neighbourhoods, claiming lives and property, and even government officials join the people to express frustration and anxiety. This is a country where the police run away from criminals. It is a country where criminals consider themselves gentlemen and are so treated in many ways. Politicians are not interested in public service; they want access to the public treasury so they can steal a part of the national cake.*


*To be a Nigerian, you must learn to relate to the National Anthem as if it were a disco tune. I have heard versions of the national anthem which belong more to the hip-hop genre. The average Nigerian considers the anthem a joke. There is a musician who has even worked out a remix version of the song, and it is played regularly in disco halls. To be a Nigerian, you must take life as one long joke. Don’t bother about patriotism. You will be better served by ethnic affiliations. If you feel you are not getting your due in certain circumstances, allege that you are being discriminated against on ethnic grounds. Link up with persons of your own tribe, and get them to push advantages in your direction. It doesn’t matter whether you are qualified or not. This is not a country where merit counts for much. Sycophants, mediocre persons and hypocrites stand a better chance of getting up the ladder than a man of talent. They know what to say in the right places. They are experts at blackmailing competitive and able rivals. For such persons, life itself is about politics, and they are prepared to push down anyone who stands in their way.*


*To be a Nigerian, you must always remember this: you are in the midst of Sharks. Every other Nigerian has a small dagger in his pocket, hoping to draw blood. Get your own dagger! Be on your guard. And may God be with you...*.

Poster Speaks

Poster Speaks/box

Trending

randomposts