The government accepted a recommendation to extend the president’s tenure from four to five years and agreed in principle that Parliament should serve a corresponding five-year term.
Headlines
Jumping the Gun: The Five Ambitious Fingers of 2023?
- /home/rhoncare/pointblank.ng/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 27
https://pointblank.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Ambition-1000x600.jpg&description=Jumping the Gun: The Five Ambitious Fingers of 2023?', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
- Share
- Tweet /home/rhoncare/pointblank.ng/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 69
https://pointblank.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Ambition-1000x600.jpg&description=Jumping the Gun: The Five Ambitious Fingers of 2023?', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
By Eric Elezuo
Many are of the opinion that 2023 is a long way away, but to the ambitious, many of whom are already beginning to (overtly and covertly) express their intentions to seek the highest office in the land. A lot of supporters or praise singers have echoed their principal’s intentions though of course none of those involved has so far owned up to harbouring presidential ambition as the year 2023 drag itself forward.
The title of this piece is derived from a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige (1930-2001), who in 1998 described the five political parties that unilaterally adopted General Sani Abacha as consensus presidential candidate as the “five fingers of a leprous hand”. The parties, much as Abacha remained vocally silent, beckoned on him to be their parties’ flag bearer. Though his silence spoke volumes, but it was never held against him until he unceremoniously passed away on June 8, 1998.
The parties were Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM), Congress for National Consensus (CNC), National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN), Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN), and United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP),
Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi’s attempt to declare the head of the junta unfit to stand for the said election was quashed by Justice Babatunde Belgore of the Federal High Court, who declared thus:
“If other people in their wisdom decided to nominate him or confer an honour on him, he is not bound in law to react. The greatest fundamental human right is that a man cannot be prosecuted or held liable for his thought or even his wishes. A man’s mind is like a parachute; it can only function or malfunction when it is open.”
“I cannot see how a declaration can be made or injunction can be issued on a mere speculative conclusion.”
Resting on Justice Belgore’s precedence therefore, it will be out of place to hold responsible as many as are nurturing presidential ambition come 2023. However, a few names come to mind as a result of their body language, clandestine moves, and/or followers actions. They include but not limited to 1. the incumbent Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo; 2. the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; 3. the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; 4. the Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai and 5. a former Secretary to the federal Government, Baba Gana Kingibe.
Let’s view their abilities or otherwise to hold the exalted position:
YEMI OSINBAJO
Born into the family of Opeoluwa Osinbajo on March 8, 1957, in Lagos, Yemi Osinbajo SAN, GCON, has come under serial attacks by a cross section of Nigerians described as the cabal, for harbouring unconfirmed ambition for the presidency.
Osinbajo’s suspicion dated back to the periods before the run off to the 2019 elections when some faceless groups and individuals accused him of eyeing the presidency, especially owing to his superlative performance as Acting President when President Muhammadu Buhari was away on sick leave.
Though he appears his usual self, the Vice President has suffered great humiliation in the recent past including allegation that he was corrupt and systematic stripping of his legitimate duties.
A scholar of great repute, Osinbajo was educated at Corona Primary School, in Lagos. Between 1969–1975, he attended Igbobi College Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. where he was the winner of the State Merit Award (1971); the School Prize for English Oratory (1972); Adeoba Prize for English Oratory (1972-1975); Elias Prize for Best Performance in History (WASC, 1973); School Prize for Literature (HSC, 1975); and African Statesman Intercollegiate Best Speaker’s Prize (1974).
Thereafter, he studied for his undergraduate degree at the University of Lagos between 1975-1978 when he obtained a Second Class Upper Degree in Law. Here, he also won the Graham-Douglas Prize for Commercial Law. In 1979, he completed the mandatory one-year professional training at the Nigerian Law School whereon he was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor of Nigeria’s Supreme Court. In 1980, he attended the London School of Economics & Political Science, where he obtained a Master of Laws degree.
From 1979–1980, Osinbajo served the compulsory one year youth service as a legal officer with Bendel Development and Planning Authority (BDPA), Bendel state.
In 1981, he was employed as a law lecturer at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. From 1983 to 1986, he was Senior lecturer of Law at the University of Lagos. From 1988 to 1992, he was an Adviser (legal advice and litigation) to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Bola Ajibola. Osinbajo began lecturing at the age of 23.
Yemi Osinbajo was also the Pastor in charge of the Lagos Province 48 (Olive Tree provincial headquarter) of The Reedeemed Christian Church of God, Ikoyi before his inauguration into office as the Vice President of Nigeria. He however still insists that he remains the pastor-in-charge of the said province and he is only on loan to the Federal Government. In his words, “Just like Pastor Ibitayo has said we are on loan. I am still the pastor-in-charge of Province 48 in Lagos and my wife remains wife of the pastor-in-charge and wife of the Vice President.”
On May 9, 2017, he became the Acting President after President Muhammadu Buhari wrote a written declaration to the president of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives on his decision to embark on a medical trip.
Ruthless as a leader in taking the right decisions, on August 7, 2018, he fired the State Security Service boss, Lawal Daura for illegal invasion of National Assembly by armed and masked operatives of the department. Daura was replaced with Matthew Seiyefa, who was removed by Buhari when he returned from medical leave.
BABA GANA KINGIBE
This is one man who a lot of people are believing has a lot to do with the presidency come 2023, his old age notwithstanding. He is alleged to be a member of the so called cabal, which up till now, is yet to be unmasked.
Kingibe was in 2018 recognised and honoured as the running mate of the Chief Moshood Abiola in the June 12, 1993 presidential election despite the fact that he left the struggle even before it started. He was conferred with the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) award. An honour reserved for former vice presidents.
He was born on the June 25, 1945 to the family of Mustafa Shuwa and Ya Kingi Mallam. He grew up in city of Maiduguri and attended primary schools in the city. In 1958, he was admitted into the Borno Provincial Secondary School, however, in 1960, he traveled to London to complete his O’Level and A-level at Bishop’s Stortford College under a Borno Native Authority sponsored scholarship scheme. He took up further studies earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations at the University of Sussex .
He worked as a Research and Planning Officer at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria before becoming the head of Features and Current Affairs at the Broadcasting Corporation of Northern Nigeria. In 1972, he joined the Nigerian Foreign Service a senior counselor and later became the head of the political desk at the Nigerian High Commission in London. During the Obasanjo administration in the late 1970s, Kingibe worked in the political department as principal secretary and was involved in the government’s return to civil rule programme, states creation and boundary adjustment, local government reforms and the constitutional drafting committee. In 1981,at age 36, he was appointed the Nigerian ambassador to Greece and later the country’s representative in Pakistan.
In June 2007, he was appointed Secretary to the Federal Government of Nigeria. He was unceremoniously removed from office on September 8, 2008 by the President, Umaru Yar’Adua after spreading rumors about the President’s ill-health while believed to be contending for the presidency.
Kingibe has silently remained in the corridors of power ever since Buhari assumed power in 2015, and bookmakers suspect that something may be brewing.
BOLA AHMED TINUBU
Bola Tinubu is revered by many as the most successful politician to have come out of the south west in recent times owing to his elaborate political schemings and maneuvers. He has been single handedly dictating the political direction of Lagos State in the last 20 years, having been a two terms governor of the state. He is also reputed to have played a great part in the installation of Buhari as president in 2015 and 2019. Not a few however, believe that all his political schemes over the years are geared towards becoming the president in 2013
His presidential posters were the first to don major streets of Lagos and unlike some of the others accused of presidential ambition, Tinubu has not denied his ambition.
Born Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu on March 29, 1952 in the city of Lagos, Nigeria. Asiwaju as he is fondly called attended St. John’s Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos and Children’s Home School in Ibadan.
At the age of 23 in 1975, the man whose hindsight is legendary left the shores of Nigeria for the proverbial greener pastures to the United States, where he studied first at Richard J. Daley College in Chicago, Illinois and then at Chicago State University. He graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.
In the run-up to the 1999 elections, he was a protégé of Alliance for Democracy (AD) leaders Abraham Adesanya and Ayo Adebanjo. He paid his dues. He won the AD primaries for the Lagos State gubernatorial elections in competition with Funsho Williams and Wahab Dosunmu, a former Minister of Works and Housing.
In April 1999, he stood for the position of Executive Governor of Lagos State on the AD ticket and was elected, and there extended his larger than life existence.
Following the victory by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the April 2007 elections, Bola Tinubu was active in negotiations to bring together the fragmented opposition parties into a “mega-party” capable of challenging the PDP in 2011. In July 2009, he called for implementation of electoral reforms spelled out in the Uwais report to ensure that the 2011 elections would be as free and fair as the elections of 1993 had been.
Tinubu is married to Oluremi Tinubu, the current Senator representing Lagos central. His mother, Abibatu Mogaji died on June 15, 2014 at the age of 96.
In giving back to the society, Asiwaju Tinubu has established industries, and employed thousands of Nigerians. His investments cut across the media, aviation, finance and many more.
His Bourdillon Ikoyi home is home to many individuals who throng there on a daily basis for one directive or assistance or another.
ADAMS OSHIOMHOLE
Oshiomhole is a firebrand activist, who spent most of his professional life as a labour unionist. His presidential ambition took many by surprise when his posters appeared in Abuja with Kaduna State governor as running mate. Though he has since denied knowledge of the posters, bookmakers believe there is no smoke without fire.
Presently the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole was born on April 4, 1952 at Iyamho, near Auchi in Edo State. He was born Muslim but was led to Christianity by his late wife, Clara who died of cancer aged 54. He is Catholic and his Christian name is Eric. He has since remarried to a young model called Lara Fortes
After his secondary education, he joined the Arewa Textiles Company, where he was elected union secretary. He became a full-time trade union organizer in 1975.
He then studied at Ruskin College, Oxford in the United Kingdom and majored in Economics and Industrial Relations. He also attended the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru.
In April 2007, Adams Oshiomhole ran for Governor of Edo State under the Action Congress Party, with which his Labour Party had entered a strategic alliance. Though he lost, he contested the election results at the tribunal and emerged victorious
On 11 November 2008, a federal Appeal Court sitting in Benin City upheld the ruling of the state’s elections petitions tribunal, declaring Oshiomole to be the Governor of Edo State. The decision was based on several voting irregularities.
In 2012, he was elected to a second term, winning the elections in a massive landslide. He ended his tenure on November 12 2016.
On 23 June 2018, Adams Oshiomhole emerged as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nigeria following a voice vote by delegates at the party National convention, and led the party to presidential victory in 2019.
NASIR EL-RUFAI
Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai has been one name that has remained synonymous with the presidency for a very long time now. He has a way of warming his way into the hearts of incumbent presidents. While Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was president between 1999 and 2007, many believe he would be the successor. He was even ‘considered’ to replace the then vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who was having a running battle with Obasanjo.
Today, apart from his posters coming as a presidential hopeful come 2023, his utterances have left many in doubt about his ambition.
He was born on February 16, 1960 in Daudawa of Faskari Local Government Area in Katsina State. His father died when he was eight years old, and was sponsored throughout his schooling days by an uncle in Kaduna.
He attended Barewa College, and graduated at the top of the class, winning the “Barewa Old Boys’ Association Academic Achievement” Trophy in 1976.
He went off to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, earning a Bachelor in Quantity Surveying degree with First Class Honors. He also attended post-graduate programmes at Harvard Business School and Georgetown University. Since leaving public service, Nasir has completed an LL.B degree from the University of London, graduating in August 2008 with Second Class Honors, Upper Division, and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in June 2009. He also received the Kennedy School Certificate in Public Policy and Management having spent 11 months as an Edward A. Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management from July 2008 to June 2009.
Rufai is serving his second term as Governor of Kaduna State. He is also a writer of great repute.
Much as many fingers are up for the number one office in the land, it should not be forgotten that President Buhari, who has tasted power this far might spring a surprise third term intention. Who knows?
Continue Reading
Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has expressed bewilderment over President Bola Tinubu’s latest claim that “prosperity is on the horizon” and that “the quality of life is improving,” asking whether the President was referring to another country or the Nigeria that millions of citizens endure every day.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the President’s remarks reveal a troubling disconnect between those who govern and the people they were elected to serve.
“Mr. President says prosperity is on the horizon. Nigerians are asking: whose horizon? Certainly not that of the market woman whose capital has been wiped out by inflation. Not that of the civil servant whose salary now expires before the month begins. Not that of the manufacturer struggling under crushing energy costs. Not that of the unemployed graduate who sees no future. Certainly not that of farming communities forced off their ancestral lands by terrorists and bandits, families mourning loved ones slaughtered in senseless attacks, or countless Nigerians who now live in daily fear of kidnappers who have turned human lives into commodities. And certainly not that of millions of households that have quietly reduced the number of meals they eat each day simply to survive.”
Atiku said that while no serious person disputes that President Tinubu inherited challenges, no President is elected to inherit excuses.
“The Constitution did not swear President Tinubu into office to explain history. It swore him into office to change it. Every administration inherits problems. Great leaders are remembered for solving them, not for endlessly rehearsing them.”
The former Vice President noted that after more than three years in office, the Tinubu administration can no longer govern by blaming its predecessors.
“The Nigerian people are not interested in who created the problem. They want to know who will solve it. A government that still blames its predecessors after years in office is, by its own conduct, admitting that it has run out of ideas. President Tinubu may find comfort in blaming those before him, but history will remember his administration as the one under which Nigerians endured unprecedented hardship, institutionalised fiscal recklessness, and one of the greatest appropriation scandals in the annals of our nation. The suffering of Nigerians today is driven not by the past, but by an administration that has elevated opacity over transparency, rewarded a privileged circle of cronies, and condemned millions to deepening economic pain, insecurity, and despair.
“It is even more astonishing that a President who constantly invokes China now blames Nigeria’s population for the country’s difficulties. China did not become an economic superpower by complaining about the size of its population. It became prosperous because visionary leadership transformed that population into its greatest economic asset through sustained investment in manufacturing, infrastructure, education, technology, and export-led industrialisation. Great leaders convert challenges into opportunities. They do not convert opportunities into excuses.
“That is precisely what an Atiku Abubakar administration will do. We will invest aggressively in manufacturing, modern infrastructure, quality education, skills acquisition, agriculture, and export-driven industries to unlock the enormous productive capacity of our people. Nigeria’s youthful population is not a burden; it is our greatest strategic advantage. Our people are not the problem. President Tinubu’s failed leadership is.”
He said it was particularly insensitive for the President to suggest that because hunger existed before his birth, Nigerians should somehow accept the unprecedented hardship confronting them today.
“Nobody ‘elected’ Tinubu to eliminate the hunger of 1940. Nigerians ‘elected’ him to confront the hunger of today. The fact that previous generations endured hardship is not a licence to deepen the suffering of the present generation.”
Atiku stressed that hope is not manufactured through speeches but earned through purposeful leadership and policies that improve lives.
“Hope cannot be preached to a hungry stomach. It cannot be legislated into existence. It cannot substitute for affordable food, stable electricity, productive jobs, quality education, accessible healthcare, or security for families to sleep with both eyes closed. Government inspires hope through performance, not rhetoric.”
He urged President Tinubu to step outside the comfort of official briefings and carefully choreographed ceremonies and reconnect with the realities confronting ordinary Nigerians.
“If the President truly believes that the quality of life is improving, then one must respectfully remind him that the Nigeria he is talking about exists only in his head. It is certainly not the Nigeria where families are choosing between food and medicine, where communities are fleeing armed violence, where kidnappers dictate the rhythm of daily life, and where hope is becoming more expensive than bread.”
Ghana has backed five-year presidential terms as part of a sweeping constitutional reform programme that could reshape elections, political eligibility, public appointments and institutional accountability in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.
It argues that Ghana’s current electoral cycle leaves governments with too little time to implement and assess major policies because the early months of an administration are dominated by transition arrangements, while the final year is largely consumed by election preparations.
“The early months of every administration are consumed by transition matters, and the final year is largely consumed by elections,” Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Dominic Ayine said while announcing the government’s position.
The proposal forms part of a much broader attempt to rewrite important sections of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, which came into force in January 1993 and established the country’s Fourth Republic.
Unlike constitutional changes elsewhere in Africa that have been used to remove presidential term limits or extend an incumbent’s stay in office, Ghana’s proposal does not alter the existing two-term limit. It would instead increase the length of each term from four to five years.
President John Dramani Mahama is also serving what the present Constitution treats as his second and final presidential term. He first led the country between 2012 and 2017 before returning to office in January 2025.
The government also accepted in principle a proposal to lower the minimum age for presidential candidates.
Ghana’s Constitution currently requires candidates to be at least 40 years old. The review committee recommended reducing the threshold to 30, but the government settled on 35, arguing that the existing rule excludes qualified citizens on the basis of what it described as an arbitrary age restriction.
Presidential and parliamentary elections would also move from December to the first week of November, creating a longer period between voting and the inauguration of a new government on January 7.
That change is intended to give the Electoral Commission more certainty and provide additional time for transitions and electoral disputes to be resolved.
Under another accepted proposal, presidential election petitions would have to be filed within 14 days of the declaration of results and decided by the Supreme Court within 30 days.
But the five-year term and lower presidential age represent only a small part of the reform package.
The government’s position paper responds to more than 147 proposed amendments and about 59 proposed new constitutional provisions.
The committee behind the report consulted more than 500 experts and practitioners, engaged groups representing more than 21,500 people and received 785 written submissions. Among the most consequential proposals is a plan to cap Parliament at 300 members.
Ghana presently has 276 constituency MPs. Under the government’s model, those 276 seats would remain, while another 24 would be filled through proportional representation and allocated among women, young people and persons with disabilities.
Ghana’s constitutional reform programme also proposes lowering the presidential eligibility age from 40 to 35 and moving elections to November
The government described the cap as a cost-saving measure that would stop the continuing proliferation of constituencies. It plans to commission a study on how the additional proportional-representation seats would be allocated.
The government also accepted a recommendation that Ghanaian citizens by birth should no longer be barred from Parliament simply because they hold another nationality.
Qualifying dual citizens would be permitted to contest parliamentary elections without first renouncing their second citizenship.
The government said the present restriction is inconsistent with Ghana’s growing engagement with its diaspora and reduces the pool of qualified candidates.
Another proposal would create a constitutional right of abode for people of African descent in the diaspora, subject to conditions established by Parliament.
The government linked the measure to Ghana’s Year of Return and Beyond the Return initiatives, which have sought to deepen ties with Africans and people of African heritage outside the continent. It said Parliament would determine the conditions for residence and any pathway to citizenship.
The package also reaches into the management of the economy and public institutions.
The review committee proposed stronger disclosure rules covering public debt, government guarantees, public-private partnerships and liabilities arising from state-owned companies.
It also recommended allowing Parliament to establish an independent fiscal council to scrutinise the sustainability of government finances.
However, the government concluded that several of those objectives could be achieved through existing public financial management laws rather than being written into the Constitution.
This reflects a broader pattern in its response: some recommendations were accepted as constitutional amendments, while others were redirected towards ordinary legislation to avoid creating rigid or expensive new institutions.
The government similarly supported creating a Public Ethics Commission and a body to regulate political parties and campaign financing, but rejected proposals to constitutionally establish some other commissions, saying their responsibilities could be handled by existing institutions or legislation.
It acknowledged that creating several new constitutional bodies would carry significant staffing, accommodation and operating costs at a time when Ghana must balance institutional reforms against spending on infrastructure, health, education and social protection.
The reform process is not Ghana’s first attempt to revise the 1992 Constitution.
A commission established in 2010 submitted its report in 2011, followed by a government White Paper in 2012 and the creation of an implementation committee.
However, the recommendations were not fully implemented. A later attempt to hold a referendum on local government reforms in 2019 was cancelled after political consensus collapsed.
The latest proposals are therefore, not yet law; Ghana’s government plans to appoint a Constitution Review Implementation Committee to prepare two amendment bills simultaneously: one covering non-entrenched provisions and another dealing with entrenched sections of the Constitution.
Non-entrenched amendments require the support of at least two-thirds of all members of Parliament. Entrenched provisions must go through a national referendum.
For a referendum to pass, at least 40% of registered voters must participate and at least 75% of the valid votes cast must support the proposed amendments.
The bills are expected to be ready by October 2026, while the referendum on entrenched provisions is expected in 2027.
That difficult approval process means the government’s endorsement is only the beginning.
But after two earlier reform efforts failed to deliver substantial constitutional change, the five-year presidential term will test whether Ghana can build the political and public consensus required to make its most extensive governance reforms in years a reality.
Source: Inside Africa
The Secretary to the Osun State Government, Teslim Igbalaiye, has been released by the Osun State Police Command.
Igbalaiye’s release was announced by Pelumi Olajengbesi, the spokesperson for the Imole Campaign Council, the group leading the re-election campaign of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Olajengbesi shared the development on his verified Facebook page on Thursday.
“We sincerely appreciate the Inspector General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command, for listening to the voice of reason despite pressure and for responding to the people’s demand regarding the unlawful arrest of the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Igbalaye Teslim.
“The Nigerian Police Force best serves the nation when it stands against oppression and upholds justice and the rule of law. Welcome back, Chief Igbalaye Teslim. Your courage and sacrifice for the people of Osun State will not be forgotten. Our SSG is out, back and solid,” Olajengbesi wrote.
The spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, also confirmed the release in a telephone conversation with journalists in Osogbo.
Igbalaiye and five others were arrested and detained by the state police command after a raid on his residence in Osogbo on Wednesday.
The police stated that among those arrested at the SSG’s residence was a suspect on the police watchlist in connection with criminal offences, Oladele Abiodun.
Ojelabi also said a sum of N4,810,500, two Permanent Voter Cards, a voter register, a Dynabook laptop, one photocopy machine and one printer were recovered from Igbalaiye’s residence.
Others arrested with Igbalaiye include Akande Taiwo, 60; Adeyemo Lukman, 45; Olaoye Muftau, 50; and Aderemi Musliu, 40
The PPRO said a police team, acting on intelligence that a criminal gang was hibernating at a location in Osogbo, carried out a lawful raid and apprehended the suspects.
He said, “During the operation, officers recovered exhibits comprising a cash sum of four million, eight hundred and ten thousand, five hundred naira (N4,810,500), one Dynabook laptop, one photocopy machine, one printer, two voter cards and a voter register for Wards 1-15.
“These exhibits have been secured and are currently in police custody for detailed forensic examination and further investigation.
“The recovery of the cash and the register containing voters’ details raises serious concerns regarding possible electoral offences and other criminal activities.
“While investigations are still ongoing, the facts presently available disclose reasonable grounds to investigate the commission of offences, which may include:
“Bribery of voters (vote buying), contrary to Section 121 of the Electoral Act, 2022, arising from the alleged distribution of money or other inducements to registered voters for the purpose of influencing their voting decisions.
“Criminal conspiracy, where two or more persons are found to have agreed to commit an unlawful act; harbouring or concealing a wanted criminal, where any individual is found to have knowingly sheltered or assisted a fugitive from justice; and any other offences that may be disclosed upon the conclusion of the ongoing investigation.”
The release came hours after the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, alleged that the arrest of the SSG was ordered by the state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, following an incident at an Independent National Electoral Commission stakeholders’ meeting.
Egbedun claimed the commissioner directed the arrest after he was booed by some attendees and noticed Igbalaiye laughing during the incident.
He also alleged that the SSG was later informed that police officers were waiting at his residence. The police, however, maintained that the raid and arrests were based on intelligence linking the suspects to alleged criminal activities and possible electoral offences.
Source: The PUNCH
