Innocent Ojefia Blog

Those of us that follow the social media are exhausted with the speed, numbers, scale, and drama around corruption allegations surrounding the Buhari Administration. The least that can be said is that the optics do not look good. If the optics look bad, it must be that the underlying reality is also bad.   A huge whirlwind of corruption appears to be dismantling the Buhari Administration and there is no adult in the room that is offering alternative narratives, suggesting, therefore, that the massive corruption being spoken about has a basis in empirical reality even if some of it includes smear campaigns revolving around factional struggles and positioning for the 2023 elections.    Yesterday, I woke to the reports of high drama in Port Harcourt as truckloads of armed policemen surrounded the home of a madam that has held centre stage in news drama over the past few days, the former Managing Director of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, (NDDC), Joi Nunieh....

Ola Awoniyi, Special Adviser on Media to Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, says his principal has no plans to run for president in 2023. The media aide made this known in a statement on Saturday while reacting to certain reports published by media outlets claiming otherwise. Awoniyi said it is premature for anyone to start thinking about 2023 politics now, noting that the Senate President is preoccupied with extant issues of governance. The statement partly read, “The attention of the office of the President of the Senate has been drawn to a rather puerile media report that the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, is making plans to run for president in 2023. The report was first published by the Daily Independent newspaper of Friday, 17th July, 2020 and reproduced later by the Sahara Reporters. “The report apparently has its source in beer parlour gossips and should be treated with the contempt which it and those who concocted it deserves. “It is true that the Senate President was in...

Before they proceeded to her [Joy Nunieh's] residence, they observed due protocols and requisite standard operating procedures, including going through the processes of arriving themselves at the Headquarters with their Investigation Activities duly signed and approved by the Commissioner of Police, CP Joseph G Mukan.   -   The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Nnamdi Omoni.   Is Warrant of Arrest not a part, if not a  sine qua non  of Police Arrest? The report has it that Nunieh asked for the warrant of arrest, mandating the Police to arrest her, but the squad failed flat to produce one.   The Governor of Rivers State, Wike in the same vein requested for a warrant of arrest, but the police had no proof of that basic order to justify their embarrassing presence at the premises of the lady (joy Nunieh) that early morning hours with a mission to take her away. How can the Police, for that matter, think of taking somebody away from their residence wit...

The High Court of Rivers State has ordered the police and other security agencies not to arrest or detain the former NDDC MD, Joi Nunieh,  pending determination of a case she has instituted to enforce her fundamental human right. The court order, which was issued by the High Court Judge, E. N. Thompson, of the High Court of Rivers State in the Port Harcourt Judicial Division was signed by Patricia N. Victor-Nwoka, an assistant chief registrar (litigation). The injunction came from suit number PHC/1128 FHR/2020, which is for enforcement of a fundamental human right, with Joi Nunieh as applicant and Godswill Akpabio (minister of Niger Delta Ministry) as the first respondent. Other respondents listed in the order include the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, the Directorate of State Security (DSS), the Inspector-General of Police, and the Nigeria Police Force. The order was sequel to a suit filed by the applicant following the invasion of her home by security oper...

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Jackson Lekan Ojo, has called on the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio to step aside over allegations of financial recklessness in the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC leveled against him.    Ojo who disclosed this in an exclusive chat with Vanguard in Abuja also said allegations by former Managing Director of the commission, Ms. Joy Nunieh that she slapped the minister over an indecent behaviour should be properly investigated. “Akpabio should not be treated differently from Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, who was suspended recently over allegations of some wrongdoings.   “The minister should step aside or should be suspended to pave way for a thorough investigation of his alleged financial recklessness in the NDDC. It is only in Nigeria that public office holders would still be carrying on with their jobs when their conduct is c...

A human rights lawyer, Godwin Ojeh, on Friday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to take steps to remove Godswill Akpabio as Minister of Niger Delta. The lawyer said this in a personal letter to the President. Ojeh said: “We passionately appeal to Your Excellency to curb the excesses of Mr. Akpabio by relieving him of ministerial duties of the Niger Delta. He has not been a good example for our people. The trending exchange of immoral accusations in the social media which focus on the minister is a dent on the image of the Federal Government of Nigeria.” He also appealed to President Buhari to take necessary steps to end the corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission by removing Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei and Cairo Ojuogboh from the Interim Management Committee. He said: “It will also be a right step in the right direction to take necessary steps to end the corruption in NDDC by removing Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei and Cairo Ojuogboh from the Interim Management Committee...

The system is in decay by this set of vagabonds in power. They are taking care of their children through our patrimony, building business empires for their children, and unborn generations. They don't care for the citizens whose taxes are used in branding themselves and their children. A country that is far away from progress breeds bad leaders and raises bad followers. This is orchestrated by selfish individuals whose ambition is to swindle our commonwealth. The Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, was said to be competent and reliable, whose experience and years in service would bring corruption in the country to a minimal decimal, without any favour from any individual. Corruption in Nigeria has no limitations. It is called a "corporate enterprise" for all corrupt leaders. Their voices are united when looting our resources. They use their gimmick tactics to divide the interest of the masses by bringing in tribalism, religious metaphysics to the gallery space fo...

It is no secret that Nigeria’s ruling elite are cruel, amoral, unfit for the office they hold. They are all fucking morons. Ironically, this hasn’t stopped them from becoming presidents, governors, ministers, and what have you. Though the citizens are aware of their leaders’ flaws, they choose to be willfully blind, dumbed down, and misinformed. Both citizens and leaders are deficient in self-respect and courage. The oppressed are afraid to rattle the cage of their oppressors.   There’s no accountability for the thieves. Kleptocracy is the hallmark of the president, governors, and other elected officials. They see their positions as a personal ATM. The country has been so demeaned and the people so deranged enough to keep electing sickos into office time and time again. What a buffoonish country!   Rotten from inside and desiccated, the country is staggering into oblivion. At every given opportunity, the people keep voting for the worst legislators in the history of the ...

The South-South Governors Forum on Thursday declared wholehearted support for a forensic audit of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari. It deplored, with great concern, the crisis rocking the commission and said that it was convinced and expecting that the audit would serve to put the NDDC on a sound corporate governance footing and reposition it to better deliver on its mandate. In a statement by Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Delta, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, the governors also gave full backing to the ongoing investigation of the commission by the Senate. According to it, we believe the Senate is operating within its oversight functions through the ad hoc committee set up for that purpose. ``It behooves us to respect the Senate oversight function and allow it to discharge this responsibility in a fair, transparent and equitable manner. ``The South-South Governors are desirous to see an NDDC that is fully alive and responsi...

The Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa on Friday recounted his experience with COVID-19 attack and said more than three members of his family contracted the virus. The governor, at a family thanksgiving at the Government House Chapel, Asaba, said God’s mercy saw the First Family through the challenge. Reiterating that COVID-19 was real, he said that it was ridiculous and unimaginable for anyone to think that his family was given money to declare that they tested positive for the virus, stressing that the best way to avoid the devastating disease was for everybody to accept its reality and abide by the prescribed protocols to keep it at bay. The governor, who was with his wife, Edith and all the children disclosed that before the pandemic infected the family, he had planned for a family thanksgiving to show gratitude to God for His goodness to him. According to him, we planned to appreciate God for the electoral victory in 2015, five eventful years as governor, divine mercy ...