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Amuwo Odofin LG Boss, Buraimoh Under Attack over FESTAC Traffic Crisis
Residents, motorists and commuters in Festac Town, the festival town in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos, have berated the chairman of the council, Engr. Valentine Buraimoh, over the deplorable state of the roads in the area that has caused them untold hardships every day.
Of major concern is the 2nd Avenue Road, a major gateway to the community which is bogged down by heavy traffic jam on a daily basis.
Though the council boss in a recent report claimed that the congestion was the barricade placed on 2nd Avenue Road by the Area E Police Command, residents however, believe that the gridlock is as a result of insensitivity and neglect of the major roads by the LG Boss especially in fixing the gaping potholes which have become more deplorable over the years due to lack of maintenance and also road diversion to educate motorists on alternative roots to decongest that root. Also the refusal of the local government council to work with other state agency like LASMA because Engr. Valentine Buraimoh is noted to be hostile on his dealings with them.
The Area E Command, like most other police stations in Lagos had barricaded a lane on the access dualize road in front of their offices for fear of another possible attack by hoodlums who had hijacked the #EndSARS protests and resent for fear of another attack by commercial motorcycle operators (Okada riders) who had violently protested and forcefully confronted the Lagos State environmental taskforce who came to enforce the law of Lagos State on restriction of commercial motorcycles from the Oshodi Apapa expressway
One of the residents, Pastor Omotore Folorunsho, said: “Please, don’t allow anyone to deceive you, the barricade on the 2nd Avenue Road has nothing to do with the heavy traffic jam. If the roads are good, their would have been no traffic. All the alternative roads in Festac Town are terribly bad. You can come and investigate it your self. We call on the Federal and State Government to open a panel of enquiry to investigate what the local government chairman has been doing with the Federal and State allocation with the internally generated revenue. All services are down in the local government. The health centers are in a state of disrepair. Many primary schools are also in a very bad sharp. We use to have road sweepers by previous administration but does days are history. The drainages are all blocked and the environment is totally very dirty. A typical example are the entrance gates to Festac Town. Go to first , second and third gates, you will cry for Festac Town. All the Chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government does is collect the monthly allocation and loot the money. We call on EFCC to come and investigate this local government.
“For now, the action of the police is the best because if hoodlums are allowed to attack the police station, and loot the weapons, they would use the weapons they steal to attack residents and motorists of this local government.
“As far as I am concerned, we don’t have a local government council chairman. The council chairman, Engr. Buraimoh, has failed. What has he used all the allocations he has received so far to do? I can tell you, nothing! No meaningful development.”
Another resident, Femi Adeyinka, who has lived in the neighbourhood for over 30 years, said the roads have remained the same over 5 years, without any effort by the local government to improve them.
“For over five years now, the state of roads has been so deplorable especially in Festac Town. Residents find it hard to go out of their homes with ease. It is much terrible during the raining season.
“If you go to other communities, you would find better roads and other infrastructures because residence have taking their faith into their own hands by repairing and constructing their roads with their own money without any help from the local government, but Festac Town is still in a very bad condition.
“At every available opportunity, we made appeals to the local government chairman Engr. Valentine Buraimoh, to fix all the bad roads but he refused to respond and when he tries to respond, he does so with bad road repair. We want the council to come and repair the roads using competent contractors,” he said.
Corroborating the residents, Adewumi Ogunsina, one of the councillors representing Ward K in the council, berated the council chairman, Engr. Valentine Buraimoh, stressing that he was only hiding under the cover as he has refused to address the real challenge confronting the people in the local government.
Hon. Ogunsina said: “Since Engr. Buruiamoh assumed office in 2017, the people of Amuwo Odofin Local government have continued to languish in pain because the council chairman doesn’t care about the people or the community but only on how to enrich himself.
“On the barricade on the 2nd Avenue Road, Engr. Buraimoh is only lying and using that as cover-up. Do you know that there are over six alternative roads that can take you away from that part of 2nd Avenue infront of the Area E command and Festac Police Station into and out of Festac town but people avoid those places because they are not motorable? The roads are so bad and the chairman has refused to fix them.
“Just last week, there was even an attempt by okada riders at 2nd Rainbow around the Jakande Low cost Housing Estate to burn down the Area E Police command and Festac Police Station, so what do you expect the police to do? Should they fold their hands and allow their command be looted and set on fire?
The problem is not the police but the deplorable state of roads in the local government alongside the drainages which the council chairman has refused to desilt for a long time. Go and long at the drainages, you will see that they are all blocked.
“There are supervisors in the local government executive council, do you know that the chairman has not held the weekly executive meeting for over 10 months
We have seven councillors in the council, do you know that the chairman doesn’t meet with us to discuss development of the area or even to get approval?
It will shock you to know that the Chairman takes decisions alone and simply because I challenge his actions, he decided to side-line me totally and align with the other six as he spends the money of the local government at his own free will.
He runs the council like his private company because he believes that he is untouchable.
I once again appeal to the Lagos State House of Assembly to institute a panel of enquiry to investigate the criminality and maladministration in Amuwo Odofin Local Government
Efforts to reach Engr. Buraimoh for his reactions to the development proved futile as calls and text messages placed to his mobile phone were not responded to as at press time.
The Federal High Court In Abuja on Tuesday ordered the remand of the Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing and determination of their bail application.
The trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, also ordered the remand of his co-dedendants, his son, Abubakar Malami, and one of his wives Bashir Asabe.
Justice Nwite made the order after taking arguments from the defence team led by Joseph Daudu (SAN) and the prosecution counsel Ekele Iheneacho (SAN).
Malami and his co-defendants are facing a 16-count money laundering charge preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The EFCC alleges that the defendants conspired at various times to conceal, retain and disguise the proceeds of unlawful activities running into several billions of naira.
According to the charge, the alleged offences span several years and include the use of companies and bank accounts to launder funds, the retention of cash as collateral for loans, and the acquisition of high-value properties in Abuja, Kano and other locations.
The commission further alleges that some of the offences were committed while Malami was serving as Attorney-General of the Federation, in breach of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011, as amended, and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has sent a veiled message to Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, saying support for President Bola Tinubu alone will not guarantee any election ticket.
Wike made the statement on Sunday during a public outing in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.
His remarks were widely seen as directed at Governor Fubara, amid lingering political crisis in the State.
The former Governor of Rivers State said political loyalty must be tested during difficult times, not after power has been secured.
He mocked those he described as late supporters of President Tinubu, insisting that sudden alignment would not earn political rewards.
He said: “So the issue is not whether you are supporting Tinubu. That one, we have taken too long, long… Yes, oh. So Tinubu’s issue is not an issue again. Yes. Do you understand me? Yes. Tinubu’s issue is that nobody should be coming here to tell a day. We are for Tinubu; I am against you. Who is for Tinubu University? (laughs) That cannot give you any ticket oh! (laughs again) Direct, direct. It will not. Direction. Direction.”
Wike stressed that his political camp stood with Tinubu when the decision was unpopular. He said that support given under pressure carries more weight than alignment after victory.
He also recalled how the Rivers State House of Assembly openly backed Tinubu early, long before the election outcome was certain.
According to him, some of those now making public declarations were absent during the critical period.
“The same people now who came to declare, put them to God… But they should declare they are saying it for a candidate. Yes. Don’t you see characters? (laughs) So I send the sword far ahead of them.”
Wike further spoke on governance and continuity. He defended projects and agreements initiated during his tenure as governor. He said it is often difficult for successors to acknowledge past efforts, even though government is a continuous process.
His comments come weeks after Governor Fubara formally aligned with the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party of President Tinubu.
The move followed months of political crisis in Rivers State, which led to federal intervention and a declaration of emergency rule.
Political watchers believe Wike’s remarks constitute a direct response to Fubara’s recent positioning as a key Tinubu ally in Rivers politics. Critics argue that Fubara’s support surfaced only after the political storm had settled.
Wike, who remains a dominant force in Rivers State politics despite serving in Abuja, appears to have drawn a clear line ahead of the 2027 elections.
He suggested that political tickets would be decided by proven loyalty, not convenience.
Videos from the event in Rumuche, Emohua, spread rapidly on social media. Many users described the speech as a coded warning to the governor.
As of press time, neither the Rivers State Government nor Wike’s media team had issued an official clarification.
The comments, however, suggest that the political rift between both camps is still active, despite earlier peace moves brokered at the national level.
The opposition African Democratic Congress and the Labour Party on Sunday criticized President Bola Tinubu for departing Nigeria for Europe on holiday at a time the country is grappling with rising insecurity, including foreign military interventions in the North.
The Presidency announced on Sunday that Tinubu left Lagos for Europe for his end-of-year holiday ahead of an official visit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he is scheduled to attend the 2026 edition of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit.
President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, explained that the trip was by invitation from His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to participate in the summit, which gathers global leaders from government, business, and civil society to advance sustainable development strategies.
“His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, has invited President Tinubu to participate in the 2026 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit, which will take place in the emirate early in January,” the statement read.
Reacting to Tinubu’s departure, the ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bola Abdullahi, faulted the timing as inappropriate given the security challenges facing the country.
The ADC noted the deadly terrorist bomb blast in Zamfara and the ongoing foreign military involvement, calling the President’s move insensitive.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s lack of care is alarming. In the wake of another deadly bomb blast in Zamfara, and following an unprecedented foreign military attack on Nigerian soil, the nation is waiting for reassurance from its leader. Instead, we learn the President has gone on holiday. What a President!” Abdullahi said.
Similarly, LP’s acting National Chairman, Senator Nenadi Usman, described the trip as “insensitive and devoid of empathy” for Nigerians facing violent attacks and humanitarian crises.
Speaking through her Senior Special Adviser on Media, Ken Asogwa, she stressed that the President should have remained in the country to coordinate security responses.
“This is the most inauspicious time for the President to leave the country. Even the Christmas holiday in Lagos seems ill-timed, given that a bomb exploded in Zamfara today, killing nine people,” Usman said.
She further alleged that Nigeria was under external attack and accused the government of downplaying the severity of the situation.
“Nigeria is under attack by a foreign nation. No matter how the government tries to frame this, it is a violation of our sovereignty. This is the time for the commander-in-chief to coordinate the response, not embark on a holiday,” Usman said.
She added that the President had not convened critical security meetings since the U.S.-led bombardment of terrorist camps in Kwara and Sokoto States and condemned the perceived lack of engagement with military leadership.
The President’s trip comes amid heightened security concerns. On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump authorised AFRICOM to conduct airstrikes on terrorist camps in Sokoto State, hours before Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the operation. A deadly bomb blast in Zamfara on Friday claimed several lives.
The 17th edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week will run from January 11 to 15 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre under the theme “The Nexus of Next: All Systems Go.”
The event aims to connect innovation, finance, and people to advance sustainable development.
Onanuga confirmed that Tinubu would return to Nigeria after the summit.
Hosted by Masdar, the UAE’s clean energy company, the summit will feature the invitation-only ADSW Summit, the World Future Energy Summit, the Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony, and specialised sessions on hydrogen, climate finance, water security, and utilities in the Global South. Organisers expect more than 50,000 participants from over 170 countries, featuring over 700 global brands and exhibitions of emerging clean technologies.
The UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, noted that ADSW 2026 builds on two decades of the UAE’s leadership in renewable energy.
Tinubu previously attended the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January 2025, where he held meetings with Gulf investors and officials on trade, energy cooperation, and climate finance.
Since assuming office on May 29, 2023, Tinubu has undertaken at least 46 foreign trips, spending an estimated 192 days abroad as of October 2025. In 2025 alone, he travelled internationally no fewer than 15 times to countries including Ghana, the UAE, Tanzania, France, Italy, Saint Lucia, Japan, and Brazil for summits, bilateral engagements, and holidays.
