Issues a 24-hour ultimatum for a retraction of the false statements associating him with Bobrisky
Renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has reiterated that he never demands payment for writing letters of pardon.
The learned silk emphasizes that throughout his 42-year legal career, his practice is rooted in the pursuit of justice, not financial profit.
Falana clarified that he does not charge fees for interventions in cases of injustice.
He highlighted several instances where he provided legal assistance without financial gain, including securing the release of six Nigerians wrongfully detained in Kirikiri Correctional Centre.
The lawyer addressed recent claims linking him to a N10 million pardon request for Bobrisky, describing the allegations as baseless.
He maintained that his integrity remains intact, assuring his family and the public of his commitment to justice.
In response to the allegations, Falana issued a 24-hour ultimatum for a retraction of the false statements associating him with Bobrisky.
President Tinubu must be living in an alternate universe and in a denial bubble if he thinks “Nigerians worldwide can look back to see how well we have succeeded in realizing the lofty dreams of our founding fathers”. That single line so early in his 64th independence presidential speech set the tone for the speech and it tanked it from the get-go. It is so off-putting, so disconnected from reality, I totally lost interest in reading the rest of the speech. The heroes of our independence could not have envisaged that 64 years after, the nation they fought for would be unable to feed its citizens, still be so consumed by the virus of ethnic animus in geometruc proportion than what they faced, be overrun by bandits and kidnappers with tens of millions of its children panhandling for survival instead of being educated in schools. Our country had the largest population out of school children in the entire world. That was not the country they fought for.
If the President thinks that Nigerians can see any light at the end of the tunnel, he must be totally disconnected from the daily Hobbesian reality in which his citizens live. Our people are locked up in the prison of their home unable to get to work due to unavoidability of fuel to power their cars or pay for public transport. State governments are telling their workers to stay home and not come to work because the cost of transport is greater than their wages.
Children are going to bed on absent stomach with formula 001 which Obey sang about decades ago looking now like a faraway unobtainable Nirvana.
I am a supporter of the Tinubu presidency who strongly believes that our economy was desperately in need of a major reform shock treatment to prevent our match to the apocalypse. Hence, I have defended his reform agenda as necessary even though it is imposing unbelievable pain on the citizenry. I am also not blaming him for the despondency in the country and our collective failure. Only a jaundiced and blind fool would blame a 16-month presidency for the dysfunction of 64 years. In fact I commend President Tinubu for taking the hard road instead of continuing in our delusion of riches that was sinking our country deeper and deeper into the abyss. His reform policy was the painful surgery our country needed to remove its festering malignancy.
However, the president is failing to show the needed empathy to put a soothing balm on the pain of the people. He is failing once again to understand that government is part policy, part public relation and public perception. He is failing woefully in the public relation, public perception part and if not urgently addressed it might further sour people on his presidency and tank it.
People are not so more interested in his enumeration of his many policies nor new proposals like the proposed youth confabs. Nigerians have lost faith in confabs with our very long history of meaningless national confab jamborees with their resolutions left on the shelf to gather dust. The Nigerian youths want jobs, schools that are conducive to learning not the dilapidated pig pens they are forced to learn with no teachers nor resources to prepare them for the highly competitive knowledge driven global digital economy. They are not interested in hobnobbing with well fed, rosy-cheeks, government officials and politics bigwigs.
Nigerians are so consumed with the insurmountable challenge of meeting the most basic requirements of minimal existence which have been priced beyond the reach of the middle class if they even exist not to talk about the masses. They are sick and tired of looking their children in the face at night and tucking them in bed on an empty stomach: Husbands are tired and ashamed to live off of the bounty of their wives’ adulterous exploits to put food on the table. They are looking for an empathetic presidency to acknowledge their pain, to accept and own the responsibility that their reform policy is a major source of their pain. They want President Tinubu to reassure them that their pain has a terminal date and that even though it looks like the darkest night, that the sun shall shine again on the other side. They are not interested in being told to deny their daily reality by being told that Boko Haram and bandits have been eliminated when they are afraid to leave their homes, or to go to their farm without the fear of kidnappers and bandits. Not even great Michelangelo can paint over the Hobbesian reality in which the Nigerian citizens are living. The president will do himself a great favor by acknowledging it even as he is convinced and confident that his policies are the right one to save the country. I also believe that his policies will work if we are patient.
His most urgent task is to calm the restive passengers on the wobbling ship he is captaining on a violent sea or risk a stampede that will capside and doom a voyage to the promised land. He should learn great lessons of Moses in the wildness leading his Israelites people to the promised land. I am his great supporter but he needs to do a better job of feeling the pulse of his citizens and communicating with them.
Presidential speeches, especially in moments of crisis like we are going through, are historical documents that are carefully and methodically crafted, with each word, infection, tonality and even commas carefully chosen, debated and analyzed to meet the exigency of the moment. Once again the people around the president did him great disservice by inserting some of the totally disconnected from reality lines, so early in his speech instead of the president spending a big portion of his speech empathizing with the pain, anguish, suffering, and the disillusionment with the country, with its democracy, with his reform policies and his regime. Where are the promised cost of governance cutting proposals, the bloated bureaucracy shrinking and ministerial reshuffle proposal?
Great and consequential presidents are known for and defined by the great speeches they delivered to rise to the magnitude of the ocassion. In fact many presidencies have been saved by great presidential speeches in moment of national crisis, like the Gettysburg address. This to my mind was a Gettysburg moment for President Tinubu to rise to the magnitude of the occasion and he failed to deliver. He needs to replace his media team and his speech writers.
President Bola Tinubu addressed the nation on October 1, 2024, marking Nigeria’s 64th Independence Anniversary.
In his speech, he outlined the steps his administration is taking to tackle current challenges and implement reforms.
Tinubu acknowledged the economic struggles many Nigerians face, emphasizing the government’s commitment to finding sustainable solutions.
He noted that, since taking office, his administration has reformed the political and defense sectors to foster long-term progress.
In the area of security, Tinubu highlighted successes in the fight against terrorism, banditry, and kidnappings.
He announced that over 300 Boko Haram and bandit commanders have been eliminated, and efforts to completely eradicate these threats are ongoing.
The President also announced the approval of a Disaster Relief Fund aimed at mobilizing both public and private resources for faster responses to emergencies, particularly after recent flooding in the country.
Tinubu revealed that foreign direct investments totaling more than $30 billion have been secured within the last year due to ongoing reforms.
Furthermore, the Central Bank’s policies have stabilized the foreign exchange market, reducing the country’s debt service ratio.
Plans to implement the Supreme Court ruling on local government financial autonomy were also disclosed.
Additionally, Tinubu reassured citizens that his administration is working on multiple initiatives to lower the cost of living, particularly food prices.
He spoke on the government’s push for energy transition, including the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in mass transit, a move aimed at reducing transportation costs across the nation.
In conclusion, Tinubu announced the launch of a National Youth Conference, set to unite the country’s youth in shaping policies on education, employment, and social justice.
This 30-day event is expected to foster collaborative solutions for the nation’s future.
Former Vice President and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, has written to the National Assembly, requesting an amendment to the Constitution to allow for a six-year single term for the President and state governors.
In a memorandum to the Senate Committee on Constitutional Review, Atiku also proposed that the presidency be rotated between the North and South.
It is noteworthy that during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidency, he advocated for a six-year single term for the presidential seat.
Following the 2023 general elections, Atiku has continued to support this tenure proposal.
He stated, “The office of the President shall rotate among the six geopolitical zones of the federation on a single term of six years, flowing between the North and South on the single term of six years respectively.”
Atiku urged the National Assembly to “amend Section 135(2) to read: ‘Subject to the provisions of subsection (1), the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of six years.’”
Additionally, he proposed the “substitution of an aspirant” in Section 285(14)(a) with “a voter.”
The former Vice President also suggested that the minimum educational qualification for a person to run for election should be the Ordinary National Diploma instead of the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. He proposed an amendment to Section 65(2)(a) to read: “He has been educated up to at least Ordinary National Diploma in any recognised academic institution.”
Furthermore, he recommended the insertion of a paragraph in Section 65(2)(a)(i) to read: “Evidence of certificates of all educational qualifications of a candidate shall be submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission or an affidavit by the candidate in the event of loss of his/her educational certificates, qualifications obtained, and dates, stating the schools attended.”
Atiku also advocated for political parties to have more power in the candidate selection process. He proposed an “amendment to Section 65(2)(b) to read: ‘He is a member of a political party whose name is in the register to be made available by his political party to the Independent National Electoral Commission 30 days before the conduct of the political party’s primary and he is sponsored by that party.’”
“For any Nigerian who is not where he or she should be, that person qualifies to be classified as a displaced person.”
FROM conception as we ruminated on how to mark the ‘low key’ (apologies to Nigeria’s president, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s regime) celebrations of the country’s 64th Independence anniversary today, the idea was to express anger, frustration and then rail at the fate of millions of fellow citizens who have been condemned to live perpetually in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps scattered especially across the northern parts of Nigeria. But on deeper reflection and contemplation, I held back and expanded the scope. I did so because it dawned on me, in a jarring manner, that many, probably majority of our citizens qualify to wear the label of IDPs. We can console ourselves by arguing that we have not yet been uprooted from our ancestral homes or comfort zones, and herded into confinements or camps in strange lands.
I will be the first to admit and acknowledge that the consolation of not yet being confined in, or to, a camp in the middle of nowhere, and possibly surrounded by suspicious and hostile communities, is a big deal for which many of us should give thanks with grateful hearts. Let’s quickly illustrate with a real picture of what a typical IDP camp translates into. There are, as we write, many Nigerian toddlers, pre-teens, teenagers, and tweenagers (children in their 20s) who have known no other homes except the IDP camps. They were born there. They were nurtured there. They were raised in IDP camps. The ones who are fortunate attended primary and secondary schools inside the camps or just outside the perimeters of the camps. Those who were not that fortunate were born inside the camps, some of them prematurely. They took ill inside the camps with little or no health facilities. So, they died inside the camps. And they were buried in unmarked graves inside the camps. That’s how fate has conspired with soulless Nigerian rulers to deal a bad hand to some of our citizens.
It has to be acknowledged that Nigeria has had issues of displaced persons in the course of its journey towards nationhood – though the efforts to attain the status of a nation has remained elusive. However, the problem of displaced persons in the past had been temporary and fleeting. In the past people had been displaced due to intra and/or inter – communities’ crises and bloody clashes. In some other situations it had been poorly demarcated boundaries between states that ignites conflicts among border communities. There had been other reasons for displacement of people from their homes and communities. We dare say that many of these displacements had been temporary. Victims were often quickly returned home and resettled. Nothing in the past experiences approximate the scale of what has been happening in our country these past twenty -five years since the return to rule by civilians in 1999.
“The combined activities of our insensitive and wicked rulers on the one hand, and those of terrorists of all descriptions on the other hand, have ensured that in one sense or the other all of us have become IDPs “
The advent of the terrorist Islamist group, Boko Haram, in Borno state in the north east part of the country was at the root of the low level insurrection and insurgency wracking Nigeria. Those who know say that Boko Haram roughly translates to ‘western education is evil’. The adherents of this ideology claim that their bloody opposition to western education was, and still is, rooted in Islam. They argued that the way to the future passes through Islamic and Arabic education. Any other thing is haram. Global jihadist groups which were operating in other regions of the world latched unto the Boko Haram to infiltrate into Nigeria, and to expand the reign of terror. Among the terrorist groups were Ansaru, ISIS-WAP (West Africa Province), and the Fulani Militia. All these sectarian groups were ranked in the top 10 of the most dreaded terrorist organisations in the world when they operated in Nigeria.
With time, and in the face of official helplessness or connivance, terrorising Nigeria and Nigerians became a franchise. In the guise of protecting the south east Igbo homeland from the ravages of terrorists and the perceived evils of the central government, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) founded a militia, the Eastern Security Network (ESN). IPOB is a self – styled self determination group which said it is committed to the excision of the former Eastern region from Nigeria. IPOB was banned by governors in the south east states and then listed as a terrorist organisation by the central government in Abuja. But a court of law in Nigeria has since ruled that IPOB was not a terrorist body. And there’s no evidence yet that the federal government of Nigeria has successfully challenged and upturned the court’s judgment. In any case, no other government in any other part of the world recognised Abuja’s branding of IPOB as a terrorist organisation.
“However, the franchise started by Boko Haram, Ansaru, ISIS-WAP and the Fulani Militia blossomed. These terror groups birthed abductions and kidnappings for ransom as well as murders for rituals. Those in government, terrorists, kidnappers, ritualists, abductors and sundry freelancers in crime competed amongst themselves on which of them will get the credit or plaudits for making Nigeria the biggest crime scene in the history of the world.”
However, the franchise started by Boko Haram, Ansaru, ISIS-WAP and the Fulani Militia blossomed. These terror groups birthed abductions and kidnappings for ransom as well as murders for rituals. Those in government, terrorists, kidnappers, ritualists, abductors and sundry freelancers in crime competed amongst themselves on which of them will get the credit or plaudits for making Nigeria the biggest crime scene in the history of the world. For the avoidance of doubt, they are still at it – plundering Nigeria and leaving citizens desperate, despondent and hopeless.
There are no reliable figures and statistics but it is routinely estimated that tens or even hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have been kidnapped in the last two decades. Some of the kidnap victims were freed after friends and families paid ransom to the kidnappers. Others had been killed even after ransoms had been paid. Right now the kidnap-for-ransom business is a full-fledged industry. Some sub national governments have since started negotiating with kidnappers and bandits to lay down their arms and give peace a chance in exchange for rehabilitation and settlement. A few years ago, a governor of Katsina state was seen savouring a photo-op with bandits. The clincher- the bandits in the photograph were seen with their automatic rifles hanging on their shoulders. About the same time Alhaji Nasir el-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna state was alleged to have paid off terrorists to stop terrorising his state. Currently, the governor of Zamfara state and his predecessor who is one of the defence ministers in the Tinubu federal cabinet are at daggers-drawn about who between them is the primary funder of terrorists in that beleaguered state. They are washing their dirty (sorry bandit) linens in the media and also in the court of law.
An IDP Camp in Central Nigeria
The combined activities of our insensitive and wicked rulers on the one hand, and those of terrorists of all descriptions on the other hand, have ensured that in one sense or the other all of us have become IDPs. Just as with the issue of kidnapping, there are no reliable data on those formally listed as Internally Displaced Persons in our country. But there’s an estimation. Internally Displaced Persons camps in Benue, Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Nasarawa, Plateau, Sokoto, Zamfara, among others, host well over three million people. Apart from the formal IDP camps, there are hundreds of informal camps scattered across majority of the states in the north of the country, and Abuja. Our country is ranked among the top 10 in the world for IDPs. And we are not fighting any conventional war.
Nigeria is already a difficult place to live in, given serial bungling of successive administrations at all levels. The situation becomes worse for those who have been uprooted from their places of abode. That is the experience of a typical IDP. Farmers are separated from their farms. The same for herders. Business people face the same dilemma. Along with the separation comes loss of income and probably savings. Some people may never recover from the initial sudden dislocation. They go to their graves defeated and broken. There have been cases of sexual exploitation of women and girls in the camps, and indeed outright rape by those who are supposed to provide help and succour. The way our governments behave, it is difficult not to have the impression that IDP camps have come to stay, and they are expected to remain part of our national life. There are no plans whether short, medium or long, in the public domain for permanently securing the country in a sustainable and enduring manner so as to return the IDPs to their homesteads.
Instead, the experience has been that many Nigerians are technically becoming IDPs. How? For any Nigerian who is not where he or she should be, that person qualifies to be classified as a displaced person. The twenty million or so Nigerian children who should be in school but they are not are displaced kids. The many workers whose employers have shut down their businesses because of unfriendly environment have become displaced persons. Small business owners who can no longer cope with the spiraling costs of public utilities including electricity, and who have had to relocate from urban centres to rural communities are now technically speaking IDPs. The same applies to those who have had to move because they can no longer afford house rents in places they have lived in for decades. Every Nigerian youth who has been compelled by suffocating economic and political environment at home to flee Nigeria by foot through the Sahara Desert is a displaced person. Every family which has been split because members are running to different parts of the world for better opportunities falls into the category of displaced persons.
A country that held so much promise about half a century ago has fallen into gloom. Citizens of Nigeria now increasingly feel trapped. Nobody is happy and many are not hopeful except the few in the upper reaches of our governments at all levels. This is part of the story of Nigeria as it turns 64 today.
Ugo Onuoha
A veteran journalist.
He was the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Champion Newspapers Ltd.
Barring last minute changes, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will make a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 at 7 a.m.
The broadcast is part of activities to commemorate the 64th Independence Anniversary of the nation.
Television, radio stations and other electronic media outlets are enjoined to hook up to the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria for the broadcast.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested former Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, over allegations of N27 billion fraud.
Top sources within the commission confirmed that the former governor was arrested on Friday and was still in the anti-graft agency’s detention as of Friday evening.
One of the sources revealed that at least 15-count charges had been filed against Ishaku and he would be arraigned in court soon as evidence against him had been compiled.
Ishaku is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party and served as the governor of Taraba State from May 2015 to May 2023.
In May 2021, the anti-graft agency also arrested three officials who served under his government for allegedly involved in a N21 billion scam.
It was learnt that the state officials were a permanent secretary, a Director of Finance and Account and a cashier in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
It was gathered further that alleged stolen public funds under the Ishaku government were withdrawn from the state’s accounts through cheques in tranches of at least N10 million each.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted Whistleblower, Isaac Bristol, also known as PIDOMNIGERIA, bail.
This was announced by the 2019 and 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, in a short post on his X handle.
Recall that the court had, on the 11 of September 2024, postponed his bail hearing to the 27th of this month.
His lawyer, Deji Adeyanju had confirmed the postponement in a WhatsApp message.
“The court granted bail to the protesters, but moved Bristol’s bail application to the 27th of this month,” Adeyanju said.
Bristol, after his arrest by the police in August 2024, was charged with nine counts, which included terrorism, money laundering, cybercrime, and evidence tampering.
The charges are in connection with his whistleblowing activities, where he was alleged to operate the X handle of “@PIDOMNigeria,” where exposes alleged misccountry of public officials and regular Nigerians.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed fresh charges against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Mr Yahaya Bello and two others at a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.
In the suit marked: CR/7781/2024, Bello, Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are accused of spending over N110 billion of public funds to acquire several properties in Abuja and in Dubai.
The suit dated September 24 but filed on September 25, by the anti-graft lawyer, Mr kemi Pinheiro, SAN, accused the defendants of criminal breach of trust, an offence punishable under Section 312 of the Penal Code Laws of Northern Nigeria, 1963.
Count one of the charge reads: that you, Yahaya Adoza Bello, Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu sometimes in 2016 in Abuja, within the Jurisdiction of this Honourble Court agreed amongst yourselves to cause to be done an illegal act to wit: criminal breach of trust in respect of the total sum of N110, 446, 470, 089.00 (One Hundred and Ten Billion, Four Hundred and Forty six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand, Eighty Nine Naira) entrusted to you”.
In count two they were alleged to have sometime in 2023, in Abuja, whilst having dominion over the state’s treasury, dishonestly used the total sum of N950,000,000.00 (Nine Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) for the acquisition of a property known as No: 35 Danube Street, Maitama District, Abuja.
In count 11, the defendants were alleged to have used over Five million Dirhams to acquire a property in Khalifa, Municipality, Dubai.
Count 14 reads: That you Yahaya Adoza Bello, Umar Shuaibu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu sometime in 2021, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, whilst having dominion over the state’s treasury, dishonestly sent the total sum of $570,330.00 (Five Hundred and Seventy Thousand, Three Hundred and Thirty United State Dollars) to account No. 4266644272 Domiciled with TD Bank, United State of America.
Count 15 claimed that the defendants sometime in 2021, in Abuja, whilst having dominion over the state’s treasury, dishonestly sent the total sum of $556,265.00 (Five Hundred and Fifty Six Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty Five United State Dollars) to account No. 4266644272 Domiciled with TD Bank, United State of America.
Meanwhile, the former governor in count 16 was alleged to have sometime between 2017 and 2018, in Abuja, had under his control the total sum of N677, 848,000 (Six Hundred and Seventy Seven Million, Eight Hundred and Forty Eight Thousand Naira) unlawfully obtained from BESPOQUE BUSINESS SOLUTION LIMITED.
In the last five months, the Commission have attempted to arraign the former governor before a Federal High Court, Abuja, on an alleged money laundering charge to the tune of over N80 billion, but has not been successful.
The anti-graft agency reacting to Bello’s absence in court on Wednesday, pointed out that the former governor “should be more interested in clearing his name than playing the victim and crying persecution, where none exists.
The Commission however stated that it is not deterred by this, and other shenanigans by the ex-governor.
” The Commission remains committed to ensuring that the law takes its course in the money laundering charges already filed against Yahaya Bello in Court.
“EFCC is eager to engage the former governor in the courtroom where the avalanche of evidence so painstakingly assembled can be presented and arguments marshalled for justice to be served to all parties involved in this saga.
” The true test of Yahaya Bello’s willingness to abide by the law in the criminal proceedings instituted against him at the Federal High Court Abuja by the EFCC, is to present himself to the court in obedience to the order of Justice Nwite. His presence in court is the only step that will convince Nigerians that his touted submission to the EFCC which was widely reported in the media on September 18, was not a stunt”, Head, Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr Dele Oyewale had said in the statement.
The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, will September, 30th swear-in 87 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria(SAN) as part of the programmes lined up to formally herald the 2024/2025 legal year of the Court.
A statement signed by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Dr Akande Festus, said the CJN will deliver a state-of-the Judiciary address, with a view to highlighting the performance of the Supreme Court in particular, and the Nigerian Judiciary in general, in the 2023/2024 legal year.
The statement also revealed that other leading stakeholders in the Justice Sector will present speeches bordering on the state of the justice sector of the country.
These include: Hon. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chairman of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN), President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), amongst others.
It will be recalled that the Supreme Court commenced its annual vacation on Monday, 22nd July, 2024. Though the Court had started sitting since Monday, 23rd September, 2024, the new legal year ceremony is now being formally held in accordance with our tradition.
All the programmes outlined to mark the formal commencement of the new legal year will.
