June 19, 2021

[GIST] Governor Akeredolu Determined To Keep Woman Arrested During EndSARS In Prison Despite Just Giving Birth—Sowore

[GIST] Governor Akeredolu Determined To Keep Woman Arrested During EndSARS In Prison Despite Just Giving Birth—Sowore

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The Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, and the state Chief Judge, Olarenwaju Akeredolu, have refused to grant bail to a woman arrested by the police last October during the #EndSARS protest, Kemisola Ogunniyi, despite her giving birth to a baby while at Surulere Prison in Ondo.

Ogunniyi was arrested in Akure and has been imprisoned since October 24, 2020, while going to a pharmacy to buy drugs for her mother.

She was arrested by the police who claimed that she was one of the participants of the #EndSARS protest in the state.

The police claimed she was one of the #EndSARS protesters who burnt the office of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state last year, about eight months ago. 

Human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, had first brought up her case on his Facebook page on Wednesday. 

Sowore had called on the governor to look into the issue, adding that the mother of the newborn was innocent and never committed any offence.

In providing an update, the activist tweeted on Friday that it was clear that the governor and the Chief Judge had plotted together to deny Ogunniyi bail going by the ruling the judge gave.

He tweeted, “Wicked People. Rotimi Akeredolu and CJ, Olanrewaju Akeredolu, are in accord to deny, Kemisola Ogunniyi, and her new born baby freedom. The chief judge just refused to grant her 'administrative bail' because according to her, the other three have a case to answer. 

“#FreeKemisola; Kemisola and her baby are back in Surulere prison in Ondo. Kemisola was two months pregnant as at time of arrest. They knew she was innocent but decided to place her on trial after one month in police’s illegal detention.

“She was then charged before a Magistrate. They knew too well that the magistrate court has no jurisdiction to try Kemisola and the three others. She was thrown into jail with her pregnancy, her colleague, Ibukun, lost her pregnancy due to beatings from the Nigerian Army who arrested them.”

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[GIST] 11 CSOs Petition Senate, Oppose Nomination Of Buhari's Aide, Onochie As Electoral Commissioner

[GIST] 11 CSOs Petition Senate, Oppose Nomination Of Buhari's Aide, Onochie As Electoral Commissioner

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About 11 civil society organisations have opposed the nomination of Lauretta Onochie, an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, as a commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). 

This was contained in a petition addressed by the CSOs to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan on Wednesday and received on Friday.

Lauretta Onochie
The CSOs questioned whether the constitutional provisions for appointment of INEC Commissioner was considered before the President made the nomination.

They noted that the President, must, before nominating an individual as INEC national commissioner, first consult the Council of State before forwarding the nomination to the Senate for confirmation, as provided by the constitution.

It was also highlighted that since the constitution mandates that a person nominated as an INEC National Commissioner should be non-partisan, Onochie is not qualified for the position on the basis that she is a card-carrying member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, and a Special Assistant to President Buhari on social media.


The groups also averred that Onochie is very unlikely to remain neutral and objective if successfully screened as one of INEC’s National commissioners.

They contended that her appointment will greatly undermine the neutrality and impartiality of the electoral body while raising questions on her integrity.

The petition read in part, “Mrs. Lauretta Onochie is constitutionally prohibited from any appointment as a member of the electoral umpire. It is against the sacred spirit of our Constitution to accept her nomination.  

”The third requirement is that a person nominated as INEC’s National Commissioner should be 'a person of unquestionable integrity'. Unfortunately, Mrs. Onochie lacks the integrity to serve as INEC’s National Commissioner due to her previous antics on social media. 

“In addition to using her social media platform to express her loyalty to the ruling All Progressives Party (APC), she peddles propaganda and misinformation regularly. There are several documented evidence of written attacks, social media altercations, and unfounded, malicious allegations against individuals or groups by the nominee in a manner that clearly shows partisanship and questionable character.

“In addition, a February 2019 media analysis by Premium Times on individuals/accounts using fake news as campaign strategies online, revealed and identified Lauretta Onochie as one of the Nigerian politicians who used fake news as campaign strategies online. 


”We will provide just four examples here. First, in September 2018 Mrs. Onochie tweeted a picture of an asphalt road being constructed with the caption 'Nasarawa-Jos Road' painting the picture that it was a road constructed by the federal government; this turned out to be false. The picture was a stock photo uploaded to Getty Images in November 2015. The embarrassing inaccuracy prompted the trend #TweetLikeLaurettaOnochie.  


“A second example of her lack of integrity was when Mrs. Onochie in December 2018 shared an image of former President Obasanjo with a quote credited to him: 'The money Atiku stole when he was my vice is enough to feed 300 million for 400 years.'"

The petition was signed by: Yiaga Africa; Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa; International Press Centre; Institute for Media and Society; The Albino Foundation; Centre for Citizens with Disability; Nigerian Women Trust Fund; Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre; Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism; Centre for Democracy and Development; and CLEEN Foundation.

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[GIST] We'll Join Calls For Yoruba Nation If Buhari's Government Fails To Restructure Nigeria—Afenifere In UK/Europe

[GIST] We'll Join Calls For Yoruba Nation If Buhari's Government Fails To Restructure Nigeria—Afenifere In UK/Europe

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The branch of the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, in the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe, has said the group and any other Yoruba groups, including agitators for Yoruba Nation are all labouring to improve the livelihood of people of Yoruba extraction.

Anthony Ajayi, Secretary of Afenifere in the UK and Europe made the disclosure on Thursday.

In the statement, Ajayi implored all Yoruba people in Nigeria and in the Diaspora to see the struggle just like others as a liberation cause to bring huge development to Yoruba land.

The Afenifere group in the UK and Europe on June 12, 2021 published an article in the media titled, "Democracy Day: UK Afenifere agitates regional structure for Nigeria, kick against secession", where it said the only solution to remain in Nigeria, is to abolish the 1999 Constitution and a return to the Republican Constitution, the 1963 Constitution.

The statement, "Our position after carefully examined the existence of the sovereignty of Nigeria, is to ensure that we go back to the agreement which made Nigeria. This structure was what enabled Chief Obafemi Awolowo discharged exemplary leadership and made meaningful impact on Yoruba people.

"At independence, Nigeria was being run on a federal structure with three near-autonomous regions. This was later increased to four with the creation of Mid-Western Region. But the military junta that seized power in 1966 dismantled the regional structure and instead imposed a unitary system of government on the country. The damage this caused was devastating and we are still writhing under its debilitating effects even now.

"(Obafemi) Awolowo believed that federalism was the form of government best suited to the diverse populations of Nigeria, a position to which he consistently adhered. Also in 1945 in London, he helped found the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (Society of the Descendants of Oduduwa, the mythical ancestor of the Yoruba-speaking peoples), an organisation devoted to the study and preservation of Yoruba culture.

"In 1950 Awolowo founded and organised the Action Group political party in Western Nigeria to participate in the Western Regional elections of 1951. The Action Group's platform called for immediate termination of British rule in Nigeria and for development of various public welfare programmes, including universal primary education, increase of health services in rural areas, diversification of the Western Regional economy, and democratization of local governments. 

"The Action Group won a majority, and in 1952 Awolowo as president of the Action Group became leader of the party in power in Western Nigeria. In 1954 he became the first premier of the Western Region, on which occasion he was awarded an honorary chieftaincy. 

"During his tenure as leader and premier, he held the regional ministerial portfolios of local government, finance, and economic planning. He was also Chairman of the Regional Economic Planning Commission.

"Before Awolowo embarked on his ambition for the office of Federal Prime Minister, he was keen as ever on putting this region (Southwestern) on a sound economic footing as a major player in industrial and commercial concerns. 

"He raised the minimum wage of workers from the 5 shillings of 1954 to five shillings and sixpence on April 1, 1959. He incorporated the Western Hotels Limited which invested in the building of the majestic Premier and Lafia hotels in Ibadan where industrialists and tourists could have decent accommodation and cool their heels. 

"Chief Obafemi Awolowo set companies and empowered them with government funding to shore up their working capital. These include Western Nigerian Development Corporation (WNDC), the Finance Corporation, and the Western Nigeria Housing Corporation. The Western Nigeria Ministry of Industries was the main supervisory department of government which incorporated these mega corporations.

"WNDC under the leadership of Awolowo floated a large number of industries and companies wholly owned by the government or held in partnership with several foreign investors. 

"These include: National Bank of Nigeria, Wema Bank of Nigeria, Great Nigeria Insurance Company, the Nigeria General Insurance Company, the Nigeria General Insurance Company, Gravil Enthoven and Company, Lagos Airport Hotel, Vegetable Oil, Cocoa Industries, Odu’a Textiles, Wrought Iron Ltd, Union Beverages Ltd, Sunga Company, Wemabod Estates, Western Livestock, Fisheries Services Ltd, Caxton Press, Epe Plywood, Askar Paints, Nigeria Crafts and Bags Ltd, Nipol Plastic, Phoenix Motors, and several others. 

"Today, many of these companies are still viable and have been consolidated in the Odu’a Group of Companies which is regarded as the largest conglomerate in the history of Nigeria.

"The 25-storey building known as Cocoa House in Ibadan was started by Chief Awolowo’s administration. He laid the foundation and saw its completion by his successor as the crowning glory of his party’s success story. After completion in the sixties, the building remained the tallest in West Africa for decades thereafter," the statement stressed the benefits of true federalism to Yoruba.

It further stated that if the Nigerian government fails to restructure the country, the Yoruba will have no other option but to seek self-determination.

"This was the structure which Chief Obafemi operated to developed Yoruba land at the time. This is why we are fighting for restructuring now so that we can have the same autonomy to develop our land. Therefore, no Yoruba group should insinuate division as we are all fighting for a better Yoruba land.

"Our position is that if the Nigerian government refused to restructure, we will have no option than join the call for a Yoruba nation".

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[GIST] Brother Bawa, Take Heed Before Magu Happens To You By Fredrick Nwabufo

[GIST] Brother Bawa, Take Heed Before Magu Happens To You By Fredrick Nwabufo

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The quickest way for a public officer to lose puissance is by maintaining public performance. Having the spotlight on your head could be capricious – because soon you become addicted to the thrills and frills of the centre stage. You speak for excitement and adulation; you become a show horse; a lone actor in your own film. And you must keep performing. 

Abdulrasheed Bawa, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is a decent young man. He is obviously bubbling with the zeal and commitment to wrestle corruption to the ground. I watched his appearance at the senate in February. He acquitted himself well. He showed smarts, articulation, and robust knowledge of his job.

The appointment of Bawa as EFCC chairman is perhaps President Buhari’s most strategic and judicious appointment. Bawa cannot be faulted on competence, commitment, or the capacity to deliver. He is the right fit for the job. 

However, Bawa’s recent ‘’bow wow’’ utterances may be untoward for the figure he cuts in the eyes of many of his admirers. When you become given to loose talking, you become vulnerable to gaffes.  The EFCC chairman said a few days ago that a certain female minister connived with a bank managing director to launder $37 million. He said the minister invited the bank MD to her house to chaperone $20 million in cash for a property. Please note that he said ‘’female minister’’, not ‘’former minister’’ in the interview with Channels TV on Wednesday.

Fredrick Nwabufo

Owing to that clanger or ambiguous comment, the worker bees in the rumour factory went to town with fables of serving female ministers and sleaze. Some even did a derisory montage of these serving female ministers. Bawa later put lucidity to his comment when he named the ‘’Dame of the loot’’. He said at a media briefing on Thursday that he was referring to former minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke. 

Where is Diezani?

Bawa had previously said the EFCC recovered $153 million, N14 billion worth of jewellery and 80 assets from Diezani. The EFCC under Magu made similar staggering revelations. Why is the former minister not on trial for allegedly emptying Nigeria’s treasury into her private till? Since 2015, the EFCC has been on the Diezani case but this woman is yet to meet with fate. It appears the EFCC enjoys flagellation. It excites the agency to always regale Nigerians with tales of the ‘’Diezani loot’’.  But why is she not being brought to reckoning for her alleged crime?

Diezani is having the longest laugh, I suppose. She is holed up in London and biding her time – waiting for the Buhari administration to leave. It is less than two years before the end of this administration; I think it will be one of Bawa’s biggest achievements, if Diezani is magicked into Nigeria and made to confront her deeds. What Diezani’s seeming invincibility confirms is that the hand of the law is not strong enough. Though I understand the diplomatic impediments involved in her extradition, anyone who steals from Nigerians in such a cannibalistic magnitude should be made to pay personal penance. 

#BringbackDiezani.

A federal high court in Lagos on Friday cleared Peter Nwaoboshi, a senator from Delta state, of a N322 million fraud charge. The judge, Chukwujekwu Aneke, put the blame for her unsettling decision on the EFCC. She said the agency bungled the case. She held that the EFCC failed to prove the elements of the offences for which it charged the senator. She also said the agency’s case crumbled because “bank officials were not called to testify”.

The prosecution of suspects is one of the areas Bawa should strengthen at the EFCC. There should be diligent prosecution. There have been allegations that the anti-graft agency purposely bungles cases of certain high-profile suspects. In the past, the commission was alleged to put up performances in the media only to work in cahoots with suspects in court. I hope Bawa’s time at the EFCC will be less of theatrics and more of conviction -- of those eviscerating Nigeria from the udder. 

Bawa should be wary of certain awards. Ibrahim Magu, his predecessor, was a man who loved awards. Almost daily, Magu was receiving awards from all sorts of people and organisations. He was happy to smile and hold up a plaque even if from hazy associations. I noticed the ‘’award wraith’’ is circling around the EFCC again. The EFCC chairman is less than six months on the job and already the ‘’award contractors’’ are nigh. 

Bawa should not let himself get distracted. He should not be under pressure to put up performances. And he must not submit to political influences. He is brilliant; he should let his job do the talking.

Take heed lest you stumble, Brother Bawa.

By Fredrick ‘Mr OneNigeria’ Nwabufo

Twitter @FredrickNwabufo

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[GIST] Winners Chapel Founder, Oyedepo Backs Regulation Of Social Media, Says Youths Cannot Think, Plan

[GIST] Winners Chapel Founder, Oyedepo Backs Regulation Of Social Media, Says Youths Cannot Think, Plan

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The General Overseer of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, David Oyedepo has supported the proposed social media regulation by the Nigerian Government. 

He gave the charge in his address on Friday at the seventh convocation of Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara state.

According to him, unlimited access to social media platforms is robbing youths of their future, while he called for urgent steps to check unrestricted access to social media.

The Landmark University's chancellor explained that many young people spend most of their time chatting, with lesser time to engage in productive tasks.

“It unconsciously robs people of their future by robbing them of their time — no time to think; no time to plan; no time to programme,” Oyedepo said.

“This generation may lose her heroes to social media disaster. Here is one creeping serpent that is eating up the destinies of many individuals.

“We must wake up from our slumber to deal with this monster. Young people, beware! Addiction to social media is like addiction to drugs. It can render a whole destiny useless.

“This social media saga has eroded the substance of destiny of most youths today. What is supposed to be a plus has suddenly become a major minus, because everything of value delivers through investment of time.

“Suddenly, we are faced with a generation on the wrong side of history; the honour of this generation has been wiped off — chatting all day with no time left to think, plan, programme and engage productively in the pursuit of any task.

“Many youths spend less than 10 to 20 percent of their time on their tasks per day. They can never match a generation that spends 70 percent to 80 percent of their time on their tasks.

“We must devise means to put a check on free access to social media, particularly those that are not adding values. Life is a race. Everyone should get on the track, ready for the run of their lives.”

SaharaReporters on Wednesday 16 June, reported that Muhammadu Buhari-led Nigerian government asked the House of Representatives to enact a law to regulate social and online media in Nigeria.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed also asked the federal lawmakers to amend the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Act to empower the Commission to regulate social and online media.

The minister pushed for this at a public hearing organised by the lawmakers on Wednesday through its House Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics, and Values. 

According to the minister, the commission should also be able to regulate online media in addition to other channels of broadcasting.

Section two (b) of the NBC Act states: “(1) The Commission shall have [the] responsibility of Receiving, processing and considering applications for the establishment, ownership or operation of radio and television stations including (i) cable television services, direct satellite broadcast and any other medium of broadcasting.”

But Mohammed said, “I want to add here specifically that internet broadcasting and all online media should be included in this because we have a responsibility to monitor contents, including Twitter.”

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