Innocent Ojefia Blog

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has said that Boko Haram terrorism has not been defeated. Obasanjo, in a lengthy statement made available by his media team on Sunday, disclosed that Boko Haram is being empowered by the federal government. He noted that Boko Haram of today has become stronger hence the increase of security threats in Nigeria. The statement reads in part: “let me assert that the security situation has deteriorated with kidnapping everywhere and Boko Haram more in action and nobody should deceive Nigerians about this. With the teaming up of Boko Haram and Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP). “Boko Haram is stronger today militarily than they have ever been. Boko Haram has also been empowered by the Nigerian government through payment of a ransom of millions of dollars which each administration disingenuously always denies. With ISIS being liquidated in Iraq and Syria, Africa is now their port of concentration. Soon, they may take over ...

A former member of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon.  George Oyefia  formally returned to the PDP his erstwhile big family in with a large number of other "decampees". While addressing party members and supporters, the former DTHA member thanked the leaders of Ughelli North PDP and PDP Orogun for their concerted and sacrificial effort in keeping the party together while he was away. He promised that his return will add steam to the political engine of Orogun for swift electoral victory. In their respective remarks, the chairman of Ughelli North LGA, Hon. Godwin Adode and PDP national leader in Orogun, Chief AK Osawota, advocated for teamwork and unity, which are the catalyst for success in any electoral contest. They urged party members to shun divisive tendencies noting that the task of Okowa's re-election and PDP victory in the coming election can only be achieved through united effort.

In a critical open letter, former president Olusegun Obasanjo has roundly chastised President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration. Obasanjo came down heavy on the president in his state of the nation address tagged ‘Points for Concern and Action’. In the strongly-worded letter, he accused Buhari of taking Nigeria back to the era of late military president Sani Abacha. Although Buhari was the main subject of Obasanjo’s letter, he also criticized the Trader Moni scheme championed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).   Below are highlights of his letter: QUESTION MARK ON INEC’S INTEGRITY Obasanjo said he is not convinced about the credibility of INEC to deliver free and fair elections, citing the precedence of the Osun state gubernatorial election. He asked Nigerians to prepare for the worst from the electoral body. “I personally have serious doubt about the present INEC’s integrity, impartiality and competen...

I’ve read commentaries that aver that Atiku’s decision to bail out of Saturday’s presidential debate in protest against Buhari’s decision not to participate in it was a tactical error. I disagree. Here is why. The presidential debate is designed to be a match--or, if you like, a push and pull-- between the defending champion, i.e., Buhari, and contenders to the title he holds, i.e., Atiku, Moghalu, Madam Oby, Sowore, and others. If the defending champion declines to throw his hat into the ring, the entire match becomes pointlessly self-injurious to the challengers. In other words, it would have been a fatal strategic and tactical error for Atiku to partake in a potentially bruising contest with other challengers while the defending championing sits pretty somewhere unhurt. I’ve read other people suggest that Atiku, being Buhari’s closest challenger, should have used the opportunity of the debate to sell himself to Nigerians. Well, that’s what  # NgTheCandidates  town h...

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, has withdrawn from the ongoing presidential debate. He lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for not attending, insisting there was no point taking part in the debate. A statement he released reads: “We came here for a Presidential debate, not a candidacy debate, and I, Atiku Abubakar can not challenge or question an administration where the man at the helm of the affairs of the nation is not present to defend himself or his policies. “After all you cannot shave a man’s head in his absence. I do not believe in attacking a man who is NOT here to defend himself. “As a leader and former vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, let me first apologise to all Nigerians, my fellow candidates and the moderator for the APC Presidential Candidates absence in this debate. His non-appearance is a slight on ALL of us and our democrac...

On Chief Justice Onnoghen, I believe that most people are more peeved over the procedure than in abating any violation of the law by him. But to the best of my understanding, folks are faulting the procedures, rather than the action of the government. First of all, I agree that the government was too overzealous in prosecuting the man for omissions on his assets declaration. If a person of the caliber of the CJN did not declare his assets fully, the government's first option is always to bring it to his attention and request an amended declaration. That did not happen here, from what I understand, the government just went off mindlessly to prosecute him and through such over-zealousness embarrassed itself. The CJN or any public officer deserves a one-time opportunity to correct any discrepancies in his/her declaration of assets before prosecution, so president Buhari and his crew were dictatorial and dumb in dragging the man to the tribunal at this stage.  Second of all...

Abuja – Mr. Momoh Aliyu, a financial expert and Managing Director of Cyber1 Systems Network International, has backed the decision by PDP’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar to privatize the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Aliyu made his position known while reacting to statement credited to Atiku on his proposed plan to privatize the NNPC if elected president. The PDP’s flag bearer on Wednesday said that he would privatize the NNPC if elected, describing the state-owned oil firm as a “mafia organization’’. Atiku, who spoke at an interactive session with the business community in Lagos, said that he would take the step even if doing so would cost him his life. He explained that he sold the idea to former President Olusegun Obasanjo whom he worked with as a deputy between 1999 and 2007. According to him, the former president did not approve of it but he is convinced that NNPC will run better if not managed by the government. The expert said ...

An Abuja High Court sitting in Maitama on Thursday ordered the police to show cause over its continued detention of Sen. Dino Melaye. Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West in the National Assembly, who has been in police custody since Jan. 4, approached the court for enforcement of his fundamental right. Justice Yusuf Halilu gave the order after Melaye’s counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) informed the court that his client has been in police custody since Jan. 4 against what the law stipulated. “We are talking about the liberty of a citizen not because he is a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but a citizen, this is contrary to sections 35 and 36 of the Constitution of Nigeria. “If you keep a man for 13 days you have already presumed him guilty, ” he submitted. Mr. Simon Lough, the respondent counsel, told the court that he only got the motion on notice on Jan. 16, and needed five days according to law to reply. He added that he was and not aw...

President-General of Urhobo Progress Union Worldwide, UPU, Olorogun Moses Taiga, has advised the Federal Government to follow due process in the handling of the false asset charges against Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen. Acknowledging that Justice Onnoghen was not above the law and immune from prosecution, Taiga said the right channel should be followed. He noted that “normally, Justice Onnoghen, as a judicial officer, should, first of all, face National Judicial Council, NJC. It is only after he is found guilty by the NJC that he can be arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal or a court of competent jurisdiction. “The UPU is worried about the speed with which the CJN is being arraigned. The petition was dated January 7. Within a week, the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, had concluded the investigation and the CCT was ready to arraign the CJN. It raises suspicion in a country where the judicial system is usually very slow.” “The UPU PG is also ...

Nigeria’s new Inspector-General of Police, Abubakar Adamu, has cancelled the appointment of a former chief security officer to Bola Tinubu, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, a deputy commissioner of police, as acting commissioner of police for Lagos State. Tinubu is the national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) and co-chairman of President Muhammadu Buhari’s reelection campaign council. Egbetokun’s appointment was made two days ago by the out-gone inspector-general of police, Alhaji Abubakar Idris. Another last minute decision by Idris that the new IGP has overturned is the posting of the incumbent commissioner of police in the state, Mr. Edgal Imonhimi, to bomb unit in Abuja. Imohinmi remains on his duty post as commissioner of police, Lagos State. Flowing from the foregoing, Imohimi, who had prepared his handing over exercise for Tuesday, told journalists gathered for the event that “there would be no change of guard for now.” Imohimi, who had invited the Press on Tuesday to...

I won't support injustice because it favours me at the expense of others. A southerner should have been appointed to replace the former IGP Idris Ibrahim. Instead of another northerner, Abubakar Adamu was appointed to replace him. This is another wrong move that portrays the government as arrogant and insensitive to well-meaning public opinion. When Osinbajo served as Acting President in August, he appointed a southerner, Mathew Seiyeifa as Acting DG of DSS to replace Lawal Daura. But when Buhari returned to Nigeria after a hospital stays in London, he reversed Osinbajo's appointment. He removed the Niger Delta man Mathew Seiyeifa and appointed another northerner Yusuf Bichi to head the DSS as substantive DG. Instead of being worried, many northerners were defending the President. They argued that Seiyeifa's retirement was already due and, therefore, there was no point appointing him as substantive DG of DSS. But they saw nothing wrong with bringing Daura and Bichi ...

  One of the greatest misfortunes of this country is that it has never had a visionary and competent leader. Successive Nigerian leaders have been either utterly inept or woefully visionless or both. But few have combined incompetence with brazen arrogance. However, President Buhari stands out! He is both extremely incompetent and unbelievably arrogant.  Recently, Eurasia, the international consulting group, said in its 2019 Top Risk Report that Buhari “lacks the energy, creativity or political savvy to move the needle on Nigeria’s most intractable problems”.Yet, Buhari is also known to be stubborn, with a didactic “my way or the highway” approach to governance. How can a leader be both inept and arrogant? It’s a double whammy, a double tragedy, for any nation! Of course, President Buhari’s arrogance and ineptitude span the entire spectra of policy and governance, but I want to start with his recent seemingly symbolic gestures that show his conceit and insensitivity. ...

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says President Muhammadu Buhari did not know about the plan to arraign Walter Onnoghen, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), until Saturday evening. Osinbajo said this on Wednesday while speaking at the third Online Publishers Association of Nigeria (OPAN) conference in Abuja. The CJN is accused of false assets declaration. A petition was written against him by Dennis Aghanya, a former aide of Buhari. He was absent when the trial began on Monday at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). A high court has stopped the proceedings from going on. Osinbajo said he is sad about the development. “I feel very sad that is going on at all,” the vice-president said. He said Buhari has asked that no individual should interfere with what the institutions are doing.   “President Muhammadu Buhari, his whole approach is that institutions should just do their work. I can tell by fact that he did not know about this until Saturday evening” the vice-president...

Gunshots and stabbing as violence erupt again at the APC presidential women and youth campaign rally in Owerri. Many APC supporters were injured as violence broke out at the presidential rally for Women and Youth in the IMO state capital, Owerri earlier on January 12, 2019 Nigeria’s current president and presidential candidate of the APC Muhammadu Buhari and his wife Aisha were surprisingly absent. Their absence may not be unconnected with security reports which indicated that the type of mayhem that occurred in Lagos may be repeated at today’s event. Instead, the Wife of the President insisted the wife of the Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo represent her at the event. Trouble started when supporters of the Uzodinma and Okorocha factions clashed. The brawl which lasted several minutes was only contained after an exchange of gunfire. Many are reported to have suffered a variety of injuries including stab wounds and gunshot injuries but no one has been reported dead...

The earlier postponed South-South Zonal Presidential Rally of our great Party has now been fixed for the 11th of February, 2019 in the city of Port Harcourt. The announcement was made today by Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, while inaugurating the Organizing Committees of the rally at the PDP Rivers State Campaign Secretariat in Port Harcourt. The Committees, which drew membership from across the South South States of Nigeria, were charged by the host State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, to invest the highest level of commitment at ensuring that the rally was not only a remarkable success but also made a bold national statement about the binding affinity of the region with the Peoples Democratic Party. In attendance at the inauguration were Brother Emmanuel Ogidi, the Zonal Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party and the State Party Chairmen of the South South States. The brief ceremony was immediately followed by committee meetings.

As Nigerians remember soldiers who lost their lives defending the country, Delta State Governor,  Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has challenged them to assist the families of the deceased soldiers The governor made the call at an interdenominational thanksgiving service held at Divine Way Baptist Church,  Asaba as part of activities to mark the 2019 Armed Forces remembrance day celebration. According to Governor Okowa, “a lot of soldiers have given their lives for the sake of our country; many are still fighting and, as we remember the fallen heroes, we should talk about them, pray for them, pray for those who are still in service and extend the hand of fellowship to their families.” “Don’t just pray for the fallen heroes, assist the families they left behind,” the governor emphasised, adding, “they have families they left behind, we must be compassionate to them and to those around us.” He continued, “as government there is still much that can be done through le...