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2023: Afenifere Backs Southeast for President
The Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has thrown its weight behind the clamour by the South east to produce the next President in 2023, describing as gang-up, any attempt to deny the region the privilege.
Afenifere leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, said those opposed to President of Igbo extraction are discriminatory against the region.
Political analysts interpreted Adebanjo’s statement to mean that the influential group may not back a Yoruba aspirant for the post president in 2023.
Already, the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has declared to run for President in the 2023 general elections.
Nonetheless, the media has lately been awash with speculations that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would run for the office of President. But he has yet to make any public statement of the subject matter.
From the South east, the former Chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, former President of the Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim, and the governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dave Umahi, have so far publicly declared interest in the job of President.
Adebanjo said: “If there is anything like power shift in Nigeria, it should go to the South-east. There is doubt about that; any other thing is just gang-up.
“There should not be any argument about that because the South-west has gotten it, the North has gotten, South-south has gotten it. You want the Igbo to remain in Nigeria but you want to discriminate against them.
“There should be no argument about where power should shift to, it should go to the South-east. Any other thing is gang-up.”
By Eric Elezuo
Following allegations by former presidential candidate of the African Alliance Congress (AAC) and Convener of Revolution Now, Omoyele Sowore, that the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, is illegal and incompetent, the Nigerian Police has released a detailed statement, clarifying the legality of the current IGP’s tenure.
The statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, and released via the Nigeria Police Force X handle, noted that Sowore’s claims were misleading and inaccurate, noting that Egbetokun’s appointment as IG is legal and duly confirmed by the Police Council.
Below is the detailed statement:
The statement titled POLICE REFUTE SOWORE’S MISLEADING CLAIMS ON IGP EGBETOKUN’S TENURE, with a rider, Clarification: Appointment is Legal, Duly Confirmed by Police Council, is presented in full as follows:
“The Nigeria Police Force hereby refutes, in clear and unequivocal terms, the baseless and misleading claims recently attributed to Mr. Omoyele Sowore alleging that the tenure of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, is illegal. Such claims are entirely unfounded and seek to undermine the legitimacy of the IGP’s appointment as well as public confidence in the Nigeria Police.
“IGP Egbetokun’s appointment is firmly grounded in law, specifically PART III, Section 7 (6) of the Police Act, 2020 (as amended). This provision explicitly states that “The person appointed to the office of the Inspector-General of Police shall hold office for four years.” Moreover, his appointment was duly ratified by the Police Council, and he has received the requisite confirmation letter from the Presidency, validating his tenure from October 31, 2023, to October 31, 2027, in line with the provisions of Section 8A of the executive bill passed which amended the Police Act, clearly stating that “Any person appointed to the office of Inspector-General of Police shall remain in office until the end of term stipulated in the letter of appointment in line with the provisions of section 7(6) of this Act. The amendment aims to provide stability and continuity in the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, enabling the IGP to implement long-term plans and policies without fear of abrupt termination. This change is expected to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the police force in maintaining law and order in the country.
“It is crucial for members of the public to be aware that IGP Egbetokun’s status as the 22nd Indigenous Inspector-General of Police is both legally and procedurally sound. The Nigeria Police Force views Mr. Sowore’s unfounded assertions as an attempt to erode public trust and foster confusion regarding the force’s leadership. Dissemination of inaccurate information, particularly about the IGP’s standing, has the potential to compromise the security framework of our nation and impede our collective efforts to ensure peace and order.
“The Nigeria Police hereby cautions individuals and groups against perpetuating such unfounded narratives that can mislead the public and jeopardize national security. We urge all citizens to focus on objective discussions that advance our shared mission of safeguarding lives and property, rather than indulging in disinformation that may undermine the significant strides we continue to make in maintaining public safety.”
It would be recalled that Sowore was detained after he honoured an invitation by the Police to answer questions on the matter. The journalist-cum-politician has remained in custody since his arrest, having refused to comply with the court’s bail requirements.
Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai on Thursday noted that if he were in the President Bola Tinubu-led government, his remarks about the administration would remain unchanged.
This was in his response to the President’s Special Adviser on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala.
El-Rufai had described the state of governance and opposition in the country as a “national emergency” at a national conference in Abuja on strengthening democracy in Nigeria on Monday.
The former governor also lamented the lack of internal democracy and active party structures within the All Progressives Congress, saying, “I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show.’
In its response, the ruling APC knocked El-Rufai, as it accused him of treachery over how he had been dragging the Federal Government and the ruling party recently.
This prompted Bwala’s question to the APC chieftain via his X handle, saying, “My Senior brother if you were to be in the government and cabinet, would you have held and expressed the same position?
On Thursday, the former governor, via his X handle, asserted his stance, as he called out “latter-day converts” to the Tinubu administration for insisting he wanted to serve as a minister in the current government.
“Good morning, #BwalaDaniel, I was cabinet minister 22 years ago and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government. The pathetic manner all of you latter-day converts to the Tinubu government make an issue of something that I never wanted in the first place is perhaps a reflection of the level of your moral flexibility.
“If I had remained in the Tinubu government, I will say or do the same on the tragedy within a party I was a founder, and the government that emerged from it – first in private sessions with those concerned, and then go public if no remedial actions are taken. Go and check my public service record from 1998.
“I am only responding to you because I still think you are a decent person who may need a job, and not in the class of Wendell Simlin and that Kaduna pretender that our voters retired in 2019 – these clowns are political mercenaries that receive humongous monthly stipends from the security vote to be the first to jump on X and other platforms to defend everything the Asiwaju government does or fails to do, no matter how indefensible it may be.
“Enjoy your special adviser position, my brother, but remember that allegiance to God and country comes first in the human scale of accountability, before any person or authority.”
In line with Prof Afe Babalola’s promise to forgive defamation charge against Lagos-based lawyer and author, Mr. Dele Farotimi, the Federal High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, has struck out the criminal charge filed by the police against Farotimi.
Justice Babs Kuewumi struck out the charge following an application by the police prosecutor, Samson Osobu, to withdraw the case.
Osobu told the court that the prosecution had filed a notice of discontinuance.
He said: “The matter is slated for hearing today, but we have filed a notice of discontinuance dated January 29, 2025, and filed this morning”.
Predictably, Farotimi’s team of lawyers, led by Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), raised no objection.
That paved the way for Justice Kuewumi to strike out the case, with the judge declaring: “This case is hereby struck out.”
Outside the courtroom, Olumide-Fusika told journalists that the case has been concluded in this particular court but declined to comment on related matters pending in other courts.
He also said that he advised Farotimi against granting press interviews on the matter.
Meanwhile, another criminal charge filed by the police against Farotimi is pending before the Magistrate Court also in Ado-Ekiti.
The case before Magistrate Abayomi Adeosun was adjourned to February 13, 2025, and it is expected that the police will also move to discontinue proceedings in that court and withdraw the charge.
There are also civil cases against Farotimi pending before the FCT High Court, Abuja, the Ogun State High Court, Oyo State High Court, and Rivers State High Court which were filed by lawyers in the Afe Babalola Chambers in those states.
Some of the courts had granted interim orders restraining Farotimi or any person acting through him from further printing, publication and sale of his book titled: “Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System”.
It is not yet clear whether those cases will also be discontinued.
