Wednesday, 23 March 2016

How God used Tinubu to save Yinka Odumakin’s life when he stepped on ‘ juju’ on a land he bought – Chief Ayo Opadokun


Chief Ayo Opadokun, a former Secretary- General of pan – Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere and National Coordinator of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER), in this interview with SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI, countered some claims made by the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin on his exit from the group, allegations of anti-party activities and alleged money received from former President, Ibrahim Babangida.
QUESTION: Yinka Odumakin said you never took him into Afenifere. He
claimed he had been in JACON where he had close relationship with Afenifere
leaders and that he and some other young men were openly received at a rally in Oworonshoki which was recorded by the media. What is your take on that?
OPADOKUN: The young man is a fraudster, mercenary in all his ways.
There is no truth in all that he has concocted. Now that he has presented
himself to the public over time as a very senior leader of Afenifere, he has even
been charitable to himself to make dubious claims of what he does not
represent. I saw one interview that he granted where claimed that he had been
in activism for more than 30 years and that if he has any grouse with anybody, it is on principle. Let me tell give you the real picture of what happened.
When General Abdulsalami Abubakar released me, after weeks of discussion
between the Afenifere leadership inNigeria and those of NADECO abroad, it
took us a long time to decide whether or not to participate in Abdulsalami’s transition programme. When we did eventually, we decided to form a party.
The nucleus of what was known as Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Yoruba land, it was the list of the executives of Afenifere in every ward, local government in Lagos and in other Yoruba land that were used to composed the executives of AD in Yoruba land. The truth is that Odumakin and Dr. BunmiOmoseyindemi had been visiting me over time. He will come to tell tales about every other person. He wasalways there when every other person was doing one thing or the other or speaking from the coded information that he gathered. But I tested him by giving him some little writing to do and I thought he could be assisted to grow before I decided to approach late Senator Abraham Adesanya.
All the leaders in Afenifere knew that my work schedule was becoming too heavy for me, so they allowed me to bring him in.
it was at the same time after we had won the election that some Yoruba young people who are professionals and who are chief executives of their various companies formulated themselves into what they called New Generation.
These were by-products of the oppression that Abacha unleashed
on our people. So, these young professionals started coming to me.
Initially, they were led by former Ogun state governor, Gbenga Daniel.
They come to express their gratitude to what Afenifere has done for the Yoruba nation and that they will like to complement whatever we are doing because they have found us to be trustworthy, efficient , capable and to be able to
stand up for what is right at all times.
After almost three to four months of their pressures on me, eventually I was
able to persuade a meeting of Afenifere leaders that the next phase of our
struggle certainly will require much more than what the elderly can cope with.
If these young people who have come to appreciate us for what we are doing are of such opinion that they want to come and join us and contribute whatever theycan, why not try them? The meeting eventually agreed that I should ask each of the group , because they were two groups namely New Generation and Idle , that both groups should send five representations each into our meetings.
That was how they got into Afenifere. In one of the pan-Yoruba conference that
we usually hold in Ibadan, that one of year 2000, Gbenga Daniel gave us a
mounted generator on a vehicle which we took to Ibadan cultural centre, that
was what we used and didn’t rely on NEPA because of the epileptic nature of
power in the country. The programme went smoothly and nothing was amiss.
This is to show you how much these young professionals contributed to the
group. It was when Daniel now went to contest for governor on the platform of
PDP that Jimi Agbaje was asked to be coordinating them.
That was the circumstance through which these ones come into Afenifere. I am saying to you that it was Omoseyindemi that brought Odumakin to me and after the trial, I took him to Afenifere. They were under National Conscience Party (NCP) before.
When they listened to me and were able to interact with me, we launched the
first rally of AD in Gbagada truly. But I don’t know how a Chief Ayo Adebanjo
can receive an Odumakin that they never knew before into Afenifere. It just
doesn’t make sense. The young man is over punishing himself because of the
consequences of his dishonesty.
QUESTION: Could you please shed light on the allegation that you took money
from former president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida in the tune of N40m?
OPADOKUN: You as a journalist have a duty to crosscheck that from IBB. I
know that in my life, I have never had any close relationship with IBB. What
business would I have done to merit IBB’s N40m then? One funny story they
brought out then was that I wrote something funny about the Yoruba nation to IBB, when I was General Secretary of Afenifere. And I said that that was insulting and unreasonable. Of all Yoruba people whom IBB has enriched, they cannot write for him.
What is so secret about Yoruba land that it is only Ayo Opadokun that can say or
write it to IBB? You can see that it doesn’t make sense. Odumakin cannot prove anything, what was the currency of the money? Or was it through cheque?
That was a sweeping generalization being made by him.
As far as I am concerned, Odumakin is a fraudster. I don’t know what claim he
has beem making at Jonathan’s circle. He must have been dramatizing his
importance and capacity in Yoruba land.
But the truth is, he never knew what we were doing in Afenifere before I took
him into the place. Because he has capacity for great mischief, which I
never saw before, and the mercenary in everything, he takes delight in
hobnobbing around someone today and singing your praise if he can get something from you. Immediately he realizes that your own is no longer
suubstantial, he jumps to the other side.
Take a look at his journey, from Afenifere to Pastor Tunde Bakare, from there when Afenifere Renewal Group was formed, he was the Publicity Secretary, lambasting the elders in Afenifere, this uncultured, unrestrained, delusional young man who feels everything was about money and power.
Remember all what he said about those in Afenifere, but now I don’t know what
turned him over that he has now gone back to the people that he has abused
thoroughly. People you have called all manners of yunprintable names in the
newspapers, you are now their spokesman. One of things I can say to you is that that young man, Yinka Odumakin is not only an ingrate, he is an inveterate ingrate.
Ingrate in every sense. I leave him to God. What God has used me to do in his life. I have no skeleton in my cupboard which Odumakin can reveal because I have never done anything in the closet whichI cannot defend in the open.
QUESTION: But what makes you think he is an ingrate? Is it because he refuses to accept that you brought him into Afenifere as you claimed?
OPADOKUN: When I say he is an ingrate, I must substantiate it. People like me don’t just speak without facts. When he started coming to me, one day he came with his left hand very heavy.
And he told me that he and his wife bought a land somewhere and they went
there for inspection. It was after visiting the land that his hand started swelling
up. He said he had visited surgeons both in UCH and in UNILAG, but they were
yet to give him a date when the hand will be operated upon.
Meanwhile, somebody introduced a magnetherapist to Odumakin in Ijebu- Ode. So, he went there and had to be in that place for about three months.
I will still go there to visit him and give him money.
Somehow, he returned from that place, but the hand did not heal up. He came
to my house. About two hours after he came, that arm broke apart, blood was
gushing out in large quantity. The blood that came out of Odumakin that day
was more than a gallon. My steward Segun was there and he is still with me
today to corroborate my claim. If not for Segun’s courage that night, it was going to be difficult for me in that house.
The bloodstain was just so much. Even Odumakin himself had been totally
soaked in his own blood. With God’s help, we managed to contain the
situation that day because with the amount of blood he lost, what would I
have said if he had died at my place?. A week thereafter, his wife Joe Okei-
Odumakin called me that that hand had started issuing out odour and that it was becoming problematic in their home.
She also told me that the magnetherapist in Ijebu-Ode had recommended that if they could visit India, perhaps the unorthodox practitioners might be able to do
something about it. Then I was still in Obanikoro and there was no mobile
telephone like we have now. I had to send this gentleman here, Comrade
Popoola Ajayi to go to Odumakin’s place and give him a letter because immediately after my discussion with the wife, I called then Governor of
Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and discussed the whole issue with him.
He then told me that if that was what I wanted to take care of Odumakin’s
hand, I should ask him to write a letter to that effect in request. So, Popoola
took the letter to his house. Now, the wife wrote the request letter and went
to the governor’s office but they won’t allow her to see the governor. So, when
she called me from the governor’s office, I had to talk to the ADC that I
have already spoken to Tinubu over the matter, so she should be allowed in. And that was exactly what they did. You can also confirm from the wife if I lied on this.
Immediately, she came in, Governor Tinubu invited his Commissioner for
Health and his Commissioner for Finance to go and do whatever they had
to do in order to get both Odumakin and his wife visa and other necessary things needed for them to visit India. I was told by the magnetherapist that they will nothing less than N2million for the whole treatment.
And that was exactly what Governor Tinubu did and Odumakin travelled a week thereafter. He was the one who told me his experience in India that out of the five doctors, it was only one that said let them open the hand first. The other doctors were asking the wife to sign that they will need to amputate the hand. But one of them insisted that they should first of all open the hand, perhaps maybe not all the two bones had been affected.
Fortunately for him, only one of the bones had been affected and the surgery was successfully carried out and the hand was not amputated. That is why till
today, he cannot stretch the hand. But what do we see today? There are no evil
things Odumakin cannot say about Tinubu and Opadokun.
Let his conscience be the judge as he is reading this. Do we deserve such from
such a man? That is to show how ungrateful and mercenary that young man is. Also confirm this from his wife, I was virtually his father on the day of his wedding in Ilorin. Nobody showed up. My friend, Prof. Olu Obafemi from
University of Ilorin was there with me when we did the ceremony.
I can’t say everything here on the pages of newspapers but people like us, we don’t lie. There is no basis for me to peddle any falsehood against any human being.
Now, the reason Odumakin and his ilks were disparaging me was because I
have exposed them for what they are as mercenaries, that Yoruba nation did not
send them to endorse President Jonathan based on the reason they gave for the endorsement. I have not said anything that is untruthful.
For Odumakin to say I have poked my finger into his mouth, let him say anything he knows about Opadokun. All I know is that I am fortified by God against human mischief. It has never paid before and it will not pay now.
QUESTION: What about the allegation that you were engaged in anti-party activities and that when you were summoned to appear before the committee that was set up, you refused to appear which led to your expulsion?
OPADOKUN: I was not Secretary to late Adesanya, I was to Afenifere. Sometimes in 2000, Offa Descendant Union under the leadership of Chief
Emmanuel Adesoye of Okin Biscuit set up a committee to propose to the
general house about Offa’s future, politically and economically.
That committee’s recommendation was that Offa people who have always been for the progressives and the people they have been cooperating with, that is the
western part of Nigeria since the Third Republic have never shown any interest
or even recognize the pressures that Offa people are making. They consider that it was in the best interest of Offa people to collaborate with former Mohammed Lawal, he first Ilorin Parapo foundational Ilorin owners offspring, who was then governor of Kwara State. They agreed that by the time he finish his second term, they will support another authentic Yoruba side of Ilorin to run for governorship. When I was given this information, I said this is a very serious matter, having regards to the role that God is using me to play in Afenifere. I told them that I will like them to come and meet with the leader of Afenifere, Senator Adesanya.
I brokered an appointment for them and they came.
Senator Adesanya said if that is the general opinion of Offa people and they
want to utilize Lawal to reclaim the glory and honour of Yoruba people in
Kwara state and Ilorin in particular, that is okay. He even said they should invite
him and he will come and campaign.
That was all that happened. In that circumstance, Chief Cornelius Adebayo strongly believe that if the Offa scheme was taken up very strongly, because the
people in Offa set up what they called Kwara South Self- Determination Group, so Adebayo thought that if the scheme succeeded, whatever political image he
has might thin out. I also remember that before we commence one Afenifere
meeting, I told him about what my people have said. From all information I
have gathered now, it was Adebayo who went to call the people I sponsored into
office as chairman and councilors. I was the one who financed the entire thing in 1998 for us to win the local government council, two seats in the Kwara state
House of Assembly and we won everything.
At the rally, Adebayo went to meet with them that they should write a
letter of protest that I was no more fraternizing with them and that I have
been offered the post of deputy governor to Lawal after the election.
Now, the Kwara Self Determination Group decided to organize a reception
for me. That day, they invited Lawal and he was with us from 12 midday till about 9pm. When I was invited to make a remark, I told them that ‘you know I am an Afenifere to the core, that is where my orientation lies, but you as a person whatever you want me to do, not as a partisan ANPP person, but on a personal level, let me know’. That was how some people started shouting that I was encouraging Offa people to go to ANPP.
I now told them that you have contempt for Offa people, they cannot be led by
the nose. Why can’t you set up a committee here to go to Offa and ask Offa people? A committee was truly set up under Ganiyu Dawodu, Olu Falae and
Dayo Adeyeye was asked to be the secretary. But instead of going to Offa
people to ask them, they said how can they go to Offa? So, they went to Ilorin
which Adebayo provided for them and they asked me to come to the place.
But I said I will not allow myself to be humiliated. They were not the ones who brought me to Afenifere. When those people came with their reports, they
said Senator Adesanya, Ayo Adebanjo and Opadokun should lead the Afenifere
people to go and appease the Offa people not to go to ANPP, that was the
recommendation read by Adeyeye. But Papa Adesanya flared up saying ‘he will
not do anything like that. How can a General Secretary be encouraging people to go to ANPP?
That was on a Monday. That night, I saw that we have come to an irreconcilable position. I am first of all an Offa man. What happens to my community is of greater importance to me than any other thing. So, I thought I had to call it a date and separate myself. I wrote a letter and I asked Popoola to go and give it to Senator Adesanya at his home. He delivered the letter to Head of Chambers and he promised to give it to Adesanya.
Only for them to go to Ijebu- Igbo and when Adesanya’s attention was drawn to the fact that I had resigned and it was even published in national dailies, he said he had not received any letter and they said they removed me from office as
Secretary General of Afenifere. At that reception, every attempt was made to
make me disagree with Adesanya, but I rejected it. If the likes of Opadokun now
claim that I was sacked, it is unfortunate. I am not jobless as they are………….
QUESTION: Odumakin also said you removed a page from your memoir
Freedom Jail which indicted Tinubu on Ejigbo NNPC fire. How true is that?
OPADOKUN: That was false. That is why I said that boy is full of mischief and he
is a serial fraudster. It doesn’t make sense for me to do that. Can you now
sell such a book? It was the same Odumakin as one of my assistant for the launch of the book at Muson Centrehanding over the books to people.
Why didn’t he boycott it out of principle?


Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Soldiers beat woman, damage her car in Edo


Alexander Okere, Benin
Soldiers on Monday  assaulted a motorist, Joy Agboghide, for allegedly obstructing traffic  on Forestry Lane, Benin, Edo State.
It was learnt  that the incident occurred at about 4pm in front of the headquarters of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company.
It was learnt that an  officer, a Major, was   said to have  emerged from the premises of the  company and instructed the woman to reverse her vehicle in order to ease traffic on the narrow road.
Sources said  Agboghide, a mother of six, however, explained that she had initially allowed about five vehicles to go  due to the indiscriminate parking of vehicles on the road.
An argument was said to have ensued between the soldier and the 51-year-old woman, after the army officer  insisted that she must reverse her vehicle.
The major, who   was said to have been angered  by the development, returned  to the BEDC  premises.
 The source said he later returned with   some soldiers said to be attached to the BEDC and  allegedly ordered them to beat  the woman up.
She was said to have been rushed to the Central Hospital in Benin where was receiving treatment as of the time of filing this  report.
Agboghide, who later spoke to our correspondent, said,  “I went to Lagos Street to get some food items. So, I passed through Forestry (Lane) to the  road beside former NEPA. As I was going,  the driver of  the  vehicle  in front of me and some traders around told me to stop. I stopped and about four vehicles passed. Later, the traders told me to go.
“As I moved on, a soldier told me to reverse and I explained that I had waited for some vehicles to pass. But he said, ‘Do you know who you are talking to? Reverse!’ Before I knew it, he used his gun to hit my windscreen.
“I came out and asked him what I had done and he said I should wait. He went into the BEDC premises and came out with some soldiers who descended on me.
“He said they should clear me off the road. But as he tried to enter his vehicle, I pulled him and told him to pay for the damage done to my car.”
Agboghide alleged  that she was also assaulted by a woman said to  the wife of the officer.
She said,  “As the man jumped inside his vehicle and tried to drive off, I hit his windscreen. He came down and damaged my windscreen and  the rear screen.
“Suddenly,  he came out with a whip and beat me. The lady inside the vehicle also sprayed tear gas into my eyes.”
 Spokesman for the 4 Brigade Command of the Nigerian Army, Captain Jonah Unuakhalu, told our correspondent that  the  officer involved was not in the Army.
 “He is a Nigerian Air Force officer. But we are investigating,” Unuakhalu said.”
 PUNCH.

Queens College: FG inaugurates panel to probe alleged sexual assault


Friday Olokor, Abuja The Federal Government has set up a panel to investigate the allegations that a Junior Secondary School II female student of Queens College, Yaba, Lagos was sexually assaulted by a male teacher.
The government in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations, in the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Ben Goong, said the investigative panel had two weeks within which to submit its report.
The statement, however, did not disclose the identity of the members of the panel.
A parent, Chinenye Okoye, had on Saturday accused a Biology teacher living on the school premises, Mr. Olaseni Oshifala, of sexually assaulting her daughter.
In setting up the panel, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwukah, urged its members “to do a thorough investigation to unravel the truth behind the allegations.”
The panel was also mandated to “make recommendations to government on how to deal with the situation based on the principles of truth, justice and fairness to all parties.”
The statement advised parents, guardians, students and staff of Queens College who may have credible information on this matter to avail same to the committee through the telephone number: 07034613096 and email: saniabdu59@yahoo.com.
Anwukah assured the general public, particularly parents and guardians whose children are in any of the Unity Schools and other Federal Government Colleges that their children are in safe hands.
According to him, government will continue to do everything possible within the ambit of the law to protect their wards in all government schools across the country, including Queens College, Yaba in Lagos.
The Minister called on all parents to remain calm and avoid taking rash decisions that may affect their wards adversely.
The‎ Parent-Teacher Association of the school had on Monday, set up a panel to also investigate the alleged sexual harassment levelled against the teacher.
The Chairman of the PTA, Beatrice Akhetuanen, had told a news conference that the panel would be working with the Police Station in Sabo, Yaba to investigate the teacher accused of the act.

Punch

Buhari, Tinubu, APC caucus meet in Aso Rock


Buhari, Tinubu, APC caucus meet in Aso Rock
Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday night met with the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the caucus members of the party.
In attendance included many serving governors of the party and past state governors including Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano).
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara was also at the closed door meeting taking place at the new Banquet Hall at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
But the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar arrived the venue of the meeting after it started.
The meeting, which started around 8.30 p.m, was still in progress at the time of filing this report.

TheNation

CONCERNED EDO LEADERS OF THOUGHT (CELT) - PRESS RELEASE.



PAYING CHIEF JOHN ODIGIE-OYEGUN NOBLE DEEDS WITH EVIL?
The continuing saga surrounding the plot to unseat Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, as the national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC,) is worrisome to the Concerned Edo Leaders of Thought (CELT). As a group, CELT, passionately seeks to ensure that justice is done to Edo people in a polity that marginalizes those whose interests are not properly protected and represented due to intimidation or other self-serving exigence, by the larger majority. As a result, in a country where fairness and justice is a scarce commodity, the marginalized group winds up being cheated out of benefits and from partaking in most aspects of national activities, as deserved and expected.
The general belief overtime, is that there is no smoke without fire. As such, we the people of Edo South, are sounding a note of concern and if you may, warning, that the alleged plan by Governor Adams Oshiomhole, to remove Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and succeed him after his tenure as a Governor, as reported by The New Telegraph of March 14, 2016 in its front page, will not be taken lightly by CELT.
According to the newspaper, the planned unseating of Chief Odigie-Oyegun, is slated for the APC’s Executive Committee meeting to be held in Abuja, on 24th March, 2016. There is no gainsaying the fact, that this attempt or move, will be met with resistance and the seriousness, it deserves.
It is a known fact, that Governor Oshiomhole, is plotting the removal of Chief Odigie-Oyegun, in order to impose and install Godwin Obaseki, as Governor and Clement Agba, as his deputy.  Clement Agba, is married to Obaseki’s younger sister and as such, the suspicion that this arrangement by the outgoing Governor, is meant to cover his tracks in office, as already being bandied around by citizens of the State, could be valid and true. As a Benin son, Godwin Obaseki, is one of us and we love him. However, we are not going to cut our nose to spite our faces, as the old adage goes. In no uncertain terms, CELT will resist, by all means necessary, this unfair and dishonorable arrangement to impose stooges on us.
In fact, since the story was reported in the New Telegraph, no attempt has been made by Governor Adams Oshiomhole, to deny or refute the allegation. It is unfortunate that a person of Prince Tony Momoh's antecedents in public life, a man with pedigree and a former Minister is being dragged into the plot. Sincerely, it is our hope, that the newspaper's allegation is not true. Time will tell and no matter the outcome, our position and support for Chief John Odigie-Oyegun remains unwavering.  
To avoid paying good with evil, Governor Adams Oshiomhole, must realize that the Benins, have been very supportive of him and his administration in his eight-year tenure as Governor of Edo State. We supported him massively, against our son to win a second term in 2012. All said and done, we must acknowledge that Governor Adams Oshiomhole, did well as a governor, and we are proud to have supported him.
It is against this backdrop, that we are calling on all Edo citizens in general and Benins in particular, at home and abroad, that the era of turning the other cheek is over and that we will resist this unwholesome machination to unseat a duly-elected Chairman of the ruling party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, for no apparent reason except that he is, a Benin man. Those who are in the know and complicit in this attempt at unseating the Chairman, must know that they cannot get away with this evil plan as the Benins, have news for them: it is not going to happen and most importantly, it will not be treated as, “business as usual.”  
By the Party’s constitution, the National Chairman is supposed to serve a 4-year term and it beats our imagination, why this hurried attempt at unseating him, when he has barely completed two years in office.
Chief Odigie-Oyegun, as National Chairman of the APC, midwifed the electoral victory of the present government. This feat is unprecedented, in the history of Nigeria, where an opposition party convincingly defeated an incumbent and seemingly invincible national party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP,) in the 2015 general elections.
Rather than being celebrated as a national hero, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun’s continued service to the nation and his party is being undermined by individuals who should be more supportive of him. More disheartening, is the fact that these individuals are from Chief Odigie-Oyegun’s part of the country.  Finally, we appeal to all peace loving Edos to rally round the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun to ensure that the plan to tarnish the impeccable public records of this great Benin son, does not materialize.

 Signed:
 Col. Paul Ogbebor (rtd), Chairman, CELT.
  Osagie Ayanru, Secretary, Sub-Committee (Publicity).

Incompetence & Corruption: Group Gives CBN Governor Emefiele 14 Days To Resign, Or Else…

The Save Nigeria Anti-Corruption Initiative on Monday gave Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), 14 days to resign his appointment so as to save the Nigerian economy from total collapse, citing various problems attributable to his poor performance and complicity.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele
In a statement signed by Comrade Femi Lawson, Executive Director, and Malam Tanko Usman, Assistant Secretary-General, the group said it would not hesitate to do everything within the ambit of the law also to see to his investigation, arrest and prosecution by relevant anti-corruption agencies.
“A critical comparative analysis of CBN Governors preceding Mr. Emefiele reveals that he has the lowest performance index rating due to his inability to initiate and promote pragmatic monetary policy to stem the continuous free fall of the Naira, halt the rising debt profile of the nation or help in the effective management of the country's foreign exchange, which have all impacted negatively on the rate of poverty presently put at 71%, unemployment rate erroneously put at less than 9% by the NBS but stands at over 24% and inflation rate though put at a single digit rate of less than 10% but ironically does not reflect the economic reality currently facing Nigerians as the prices of goods and services have more than tripled in the past one year,” the statement said.  
Among others, it cited the following:
·      The indiscriminate debiting of customers by commercial banks the sum of N65 after first withdrawal from ATMs other than their banks;
·      The  failure to blow the whistle even after the discovery of a lopsided distribution of millions of dollars to promote the off-shore business interest of Aliko Dangote to the detriment of the Nigerian economy;
·      Mr. Emefiele’s role in the misappropriation of over $2.1billion dollars meant for the procurement of arms.  “It has never been heard in a sane clime that a CBN Governor would release a whopping sum of over $47million and millions of Euros from the vault of the CBN without due process and worse still is when such action was carried out only by an instruction on a piece of paper by the embattled erstwhile security adviser, Sambo Dasuki;”
·      The continuous free fall of the Naira;
·      The sharp decline in foreign reserves;
·     Unholy romance/sponsorship of PDP campaigns in the 2015 general elections: “It is shocking to us with facts that a CBN Governor could     channel funds from the CBN to sponsor the PDP in the 2015 general elections as events presently unfolding with the arrest and prosecution of Sambo Dasuki already indicted him.
According to the group, “Records also show several monies released by Mr. Emefiele to choice candidates in PDP i.e. Gov. Emmanuel Udom of Akwa-Ibom State as well as details of his hidden meetings with Bayelsa State APC Gubernatorial candidate in the person of Chief Timipreye Silva at different points before the Bayelsa Governorship election is also an indication that he is a failed CBN governor who mixes professionalism with politics.”
It noted that performance in a highly exalted office such as the CBN Governor cannot be better measured by the above indicators most of which currently depict failure.
“The economy of our great nation has never had it this bad since independence under a Central Bank Governor,” the group said.
“The multiplier effect of the exchange rate under his watch has caused the astronomical increase in the prices of goods and services which in turn has brought unimaginable hardships on the already impoverished Nigerian citizens.”
It pledged to occupy the National Assembly, the CBN and EFCC headquarters for a protest match to save the Nigerian economy from the clutches of corruption and incompetence if Mr. Emefiele failed to honour the deadline.
The Save Nigeria Anti-Corruption Initiative affirmed that it stands with President Buhari’s drive to kill corruption in Nigeria and end impunity, ineffectiveness and mediocrity among government appointees.
Should Mr. Emefiele ignore the ultimatum, the group warned: “We will occupy the National Assembly, the CBN and EFCC headquarters for a protest match to save the Nigerian economy from the clutches of corruption.”

I have more than 2,600 delegates behind me. I will probe Oshiomhole if elected Governor, APC gubernatorial aspirant boasts

AkYt0kh6
By Kingsley Amayo
An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Edo State, Blessing Agbomhere, has vowed to probe the government of incumbent Governor Adams Oshiomhole if elected into office, declaring that being members of the same political party would not deter him from looking into the books of the Oshiomhole administration and those before him.
37-year-old Agbomhere from Etsako Central Local Government Area of Edo State also took a swipe on the loans so far collected by the government of Governor Oshiomhole, remarking that the loans were collected without repayment procedures.
The aspirant, who spoke at a press briefing in Benin on Tuesday, expressed optimism in winning the APC governorship ticket, boasting that “I have consulted widely with delegates of the party and more than 2,600 delegates are already behind him.”
Agbomhere, who said he was unmoved by the financial wealth of other APC governorship aspirants, pointed out that he decided to contest the Edo State governorship election in order to provide jobs and hope for hundreds of thousands of unemployed youths in the state.
He said, “you can’t collect loan without a procedure of how to pay back. You cannot take loan and expect the next government to pay back; you must set up a platform for the loan to be repaid. Government must learn how to do business.
My government will abolish corruption in Edo State. That is why the programme we have is to ensure that all our past leaders are probed. Whether they like it or not, we will ensure that whatever they have taken from Edo state, whatever they have wasted from‎ Edo state, they will bring back. And I will start from Comrade Adams, the present governor of Edo state. 
“We will visit all the projects he has done to ascertain how much he has spent on the projects and if we see that Edo State‎ has been shortchanged, we will ensure that such monies are refunded to the account of Edo State. 

UrhopotaReporters