The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has sacked three of his commissioners in what was a major cabinet shake up that was announced today, Wednesday. This was even as the Ogun state governor also announced a minor cabinet reshufflement.
The announcement of the reshuffling was contained in a statement showed that the Commissioners for Tourism, Folorunsho Folarin-Coker; Finance, Dr. Mustapha Akinkunmi; and Transportation, Dr. Ekundayo Mobereola have been dropped from the cabinet. This development comes exactly one year after the Governor constituted his Executive Council on October 19, 2015. The statement which was signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Tunji Bello, Ambode directed the Special Adviser, Arts and Culture to take over as the Acting Commissioner for Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Special Adviser on Transportation will take over as Acting Commissioner for Transportation, while the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance takes over as the Acting Commissioner for Finance pending the appointment of new Commissioners in the respective ministries. The statement added that the Governor expressed his appreciation to the former Commissioners for their service to the State and wished them well in their future endeavours.
The cabinet reshufflement in Ogun state affected four Commissioners and four Special Advisers to the Governor. Those affected include Ronke Sokefun, who before now was the Commissioner for Agriculture. Sokefun moves to the Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning. Bashorun Adebola Adeife, who used to be the Commissioner for Urban and Physical Planning, now moves to the Ministry of Inter-Governmental Affairs. Also affected is the erstwhile Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Barrister Leke Adewolu, who now superintends the Ministry of Special Duties. One of the newly sworn-in Commissioners, Abiola Kufile-Okonji, is now in charge of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, while a Consultant to Governor Ibikunle Amosun, Ronke Onadeko, will oversee the Ministry of Agriculture pending the appointment of a substantive Commissioner for the Ministry. The affected Special Advisers are the Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing, Bayo Adeyemi, who now moves to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; Yinka Odufuwa, hitherto of the Ministry of Agriculture, moves to Forestry, while Akinola Lawson, formerly of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, moves to Special Duties. Others are Segun Adesanya of the Ministry of Special Duties, who moves to Youth and Sports, while Gbenga Opesanwo is in charge of Transport. The reshuffle takes immediate effect. [myad]
Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr, the eldest son of late environmental rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa is dead.
According to a source, the former Assistant to former president Goodluck Jonathan, ‘had stroke on Saturday and was placed on life support but he didn’t make it’
Born in 1968, Ken Wiwa, popularly known as Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr was an international journalist and an author.
In 2005, he returned to Nigeria and was appointed by then president Olusegun Obasanjo as his Special Assistant on peace, conflict resolution and reconciliation.
He served President Umaru Yar’Adua as the Special Assistant on International Affairs.
In 2013, he served President Goodluck Jonathan as the Senior Special Assistant on Civil Society and International Media.
Menawhile, th e apex mass-based organization of the Ogoni people (MOSOP) has expressed its deep shock over the news of the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) is deeply pained by this tragic incident, the loss of our dear “Ken Jr.” – son of our celebrated hero, Ken Saro-Wiwa.
“We express our deepest condolences to the family of Wiwa in particular and the Ogoni nation in general.” [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari sent a message of condolence to the Catholic family in Nigeria, particularly those in Abuja, over the passing away of Rev. Fr. Willie Ojukwu.
A statement by the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina quoted the President as sympathizing with the family, friends and close associates of the late priest who died Sunday in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The President described the late clergy as a humble and dedicated servant of the Lord, who spent his time on earth serving humanity, especially in helping the poor and needy.
He commended the contributions of the late priest to the growth of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, and his tireless efforts in promoting peace, love and unity in all his engagements across the country.
The President said that Rev. Fr. Ojukwu will be remembered for his patriotism, religious tolerance, and respect for constituted authority as well as the love for humanity.
He prayed to God to grant the priest eternal rest, and to comfort all members of the church and his family. [myad]
It is not all the time you respond to the inanities of fools; it is conventional wisdom of Africans that such actions usually come with its inherent risks. It is possible that, in such engagements, the normal human being is often confused with the madman. Nonetheless, the Holy Scriptures aptly counsel us to “to answer the fool in his foolishness lest he becomes wise in his conceit.” (Proverbs 26:5). It is my desire to respond to the random musings of Femi Fani Kayode on the purported detention of his wife and toddler-son in a Bank in Ekiti state.
The FACT as stated by the Economic and Financial crimes Commission (EFCC) revealed that Precious Chikwendu, FFK’s wife, traveled to Ekiti state (she is not a resident of Ekiti!) to withdraw money from an account that had been placed on hold because of linkage with slush funds of the Goodluck Jonathan presidential campaign in 2015. She had used a Zenith account linked to FFK to apply for her BVN. Further security checks revealed that FFK had employed the woman to execute several fraudulent transactions, which he compensated with the handsome gift of Range Rover (sport) car. How else can one explain why FFK chose Ekiti state as the place to perpetrate his mindboggling larcenous impudence other than that Ekiti space is now polluted by gubernatorial fart?
Without a doubt, FFK is broke and needs money, lots of money, to service his self-inflicted afflictions of illicit drug abuse; he resorted to the desperate attempt at withdrawing from the account still harbouring over two million naira of slush funds through his alter ego. The ease with which FFK obfuscates issues is legendary. Anytime, his odious past is called to question, he finds it very easy to drag President Buhari along with him. Of course, he has found it convenient preying on the bitterness of the acolytes of the last regime, who are still smarting from the loss of the Presidential election of 2015, despite the humongous dollar-denominated electoral investments all over Nigeria! Imagine a serial wife beater calling President Buhari a misogynist? The other day, after abandoning his narcotics rehab medication, he declared openly the three Igbo women he had had intimate dealings with. One of his said victims later revealed that this bloke is a serial pedophile with the savagery of a cruel being!
It goes without saying that FFK cannot engage in any productive venture; he has gotten so used to huge free funds that it is doubtful if he can ever do honest business in this life. He made his choice on his preferences in life; it is infernal when he languidly clutches on red-herring ploys in his delusional attempt at confusing unsuspecting Nigerians. He constantly alludes to the profession of Christian faith and political opposition to the ruling APC as the cause of travails. We all know that that there is commensurate comeuppance for any misdeed of man. Of course, FFK, with his education, knows this fact but prefers to play the deception script. What is disgusting is the ease with which he throws stones at the President whenever another shady part of his life is exposed. The promise that I can give FFK is that, for every pebble he throws at the President, he should expect a boulder thrown at him. That is a promise and not a threat!
Former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro has told the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) that he gave Governor Ayodele Fayose the sum of $5.377 million out of the N4.745 billion wired to a company linked to him by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). Governor Fayose had insisted when his accounts were frozen by the EFCC a few months back that the money he used for his election was from a bank and not from Obanikoro,
The said cash was wired into the company, Sylva Mcnamara within seven months in 2014.
Obanikoro, who opened up to the EFCC detectives, said that he said N2.23 billion was transferred to Fayose out of the slush funds.
He said that out of the sum, he handed over $5,377,000 to Fayose in cash and N1.3billion was received by the governor’s associate, Mr. Abiodun Agbele.
He admitted that the N1.3billion was flown to Akure airport in two chartered flights for delivery to Agbele. The money was sourced from $2.1billion meant for arms from the Office of the National Security (ONSA).
Obanikoro said he is not the owner of Sylva Mcnamara that was used to transfer the funds to Fayose.
But he defended why the money was remitted to Mcnamara, including the warding off of a plot by Boko Haram to attack Lagos.
Accompanied by his lawyer, Mr. James Onoja (SAN), the ex-Minister was confronted with a petition from ONSA which was dated November 28, 2015.
The petition was titled “Payment to companies with no contract awards or approval.”
He said having gone through the petition, he discovered that Sylva Mcnamara was No. 78 on the list of firms being investigated having “collected the aggregate sum of N4,685,000,000 between April 4, 2014 and November 13, 2014.
A top source quoted Obanikoro as saying that “the sum of N2.2billion was transferred to Sylva Mcnamara for onward transfer to Mr. Ayodele Fayose on the instruction of the NSA.
“The sum of N1.3billion cash was brought in a bullion van by Diamond Bank on the instruction of the NSA.
“In addition, the sum of N60million was converted to dollars at the rate of N168 per dollar and altogether the sum of $5,377,000 was handed over in cash by me to Mr. Fayose while the N1.3billion was received by Mr. Fayose’s associate, Mr. Abiodun Agbele in the presence of my Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Lt. Adewale who also accompanied them to the bank along with the bank officials.
“I didn’t interact with the bank officials. I called Fayose before the funds were handed over to Mr. Abiodun Agbele. I spoke to Fayose with my phone at Akure airport.”
On how the cash was transferred to Fayose, the source Obanikoro told investigators that “two flights were used to convey the money from Lagos.
The ex-Minister said he “ took off with the first flight with part of the money while the second flight brought the remaining funds to Akure local airport and I directed that it should be handed over to the same person.”
The source said Obanikoro however maintained that part of the cash was used to ward off Boko Haram aggression in Lagos and in the South-West in general.
The source added: “He told us that he is “ not the owner of the company in question but introduced the owner, Mr. Kareem Taiwo to the NSA, Mr. Sambo Dasuki when the threat of Boko Haram became more visible in Lagos.
“He said the government wanted to “incorporate local input into the intelligence gathering and prevention of terrorist attack on Lagos and the South-West in general.”
The EFCC had discovered that Sylvan Mcnamara Limited, allegedly owned by Obanikoro and his sons, was used to launder the N4.745billion.
The company, which was incorporated in November 2011 had the following as its directors: a close aide of the ex-Minister, Ikenna Ezekwe(700,000 shares) of 51 Simpson Street, Ebute-Metta; Idowu Oshodi(299,000 shares) of 8, Prince Tayo Adesanya Street, Park View Estate, Ikoyi; and Elizabeth Adebiyi(1,000 shares) of 3, Adedoyin Street, Ijeshatedo, Surulere.
But Ikenna Ezekwe has had his accounts de-frozen by the EFCC since the slush funds were not traced to him.
A document said: “To set the stage for the use of the company for money laundering, the board of directors on May 7, 2012 passed a resolution that the company should open an account and appointed Mr. Gbolahan Obanikoro, Ikenna Ezekwe, Ms. Theresa Matuluko (Secretary) and Mr. Babajide Obanikoro as the signatories to the account.
“The board added that the signing combination be that any of the signatories can sign alone.”
According to EFCC, when it was time to illegally draw the N4.745billion from ONSA as war chest for Ekiti Governorship poll, ex-Minister Obanikoro made the account of Sylvan Mcnamara Limited available and coordinated the disbursement.
The breakdown of the disbursement was as follows: N N759, 384, 300 changed into dollars through Bureau De Change firms; N160million used to purchase cars through Balmoral International Limited; N1, 219, 490,000 ferried by Obanikoro in two flights to a branch of Zenith Bank at Plot 13, Alagbaka Estate, Akure to evacuate the cash and received by Fayose’s associate, Abiodun; balance of about N2billion withdrawn by Obanikoro and his two children in cash.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described corruption as a fatal scourge and that it is a crime against humanity, given the fact that in many countries it is largely responsible for the abject poverty of the majority and the massive fatalities of the most vulnerable in the society.
Osinbajo, who delivered a lecture today, Tuesday, at the National Conference on the Role of the Legislature in the fight against corruption, lambasted those who have raised eyebrow on the way corrupt people are being arrested too answer for their crimes.
“I have been involved in anti-corruption advocacy and research, and action since1990. In all of that, I have never heard anyone say with any seriousness that they support corruption. Indeed everyone agrees that corruption is ultimately a fatal scourge.
“Let me even argue that it is a crime against humanity, given the fact that in many countries including ours, it is largely responsible for the abject poverty of the majority and the massive fatalities of the most vulnerable in our society.
“For the majority of our citizens, the greed and mindless selfishness that portends corruption is bewildering. How do you explain how anyone can embezzle funds meant to equip soldiers for a war that could consume thousands and eventually all of us?
“Or how in the midst of so much want, how can some seize the treasury for themselves, their families and friends? And how can anyone argue after all of that, that all that is required and all that we need to pay attention to is the technicality of how such people are possibly arrested?
“As the Senate President just pointed out, a few subsidy scams consumed almost N5 Trillion. When you consider that the budget is N6 Trillion, the size, the scale of the damage is clear. So I am sure that we all agree that there is no point bringing together this most distinguished, erudite and knowledgeable group for an intellectual exigencies on the consequences of corruption.
“Indeed, a conference on corruption in which the arms of government are invited can, in my view, have one objective, and one objective alone, which is: what is the way out of this existential evil?
“So, a gathering like this presents a unique opportunity to explore a consensus on how to free our nation and its most crucial institutions from the ravages of corruption or as the President said famously, how to kill it before it kills us.”
The full text of the Vice President speech is reproduced here:
The National Assembly, the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption and the UNODC deserve to be commended for this far-sighted initiative.
Despite the widespread cynicism about the capacity of the political class to fight corruption and graft, we have found the will to open up a public discourse on this all important subject.
Let me also thank Prof. P.L.O Lumumba,(keynote speaker from Kenya) for what, for me, was the most insightful and most eloquent extemporaneous speech I have ever heard on the subject.
I have been involved in anti-corruption advocacy and research, and action since1990. In all of that, I have never heard anyone say with any seriousness that they support corruption. Indeed everyone agrees that corruption is ultimately a fatal scourge.
Let me even argue that it is a crime against humanity, given the fact that in many countries including ours, it is largely responsible for the abject poverty of the majority and the massive fatalities of the most vulnerable in our society.
For the majority of our citizens, the greed and mindless selfishness that portends corruption is bewildering. How do you explain how anyone can embezzle funds meant to equip soldiers for a war that could consume thousands and eventually all of us?
Or how in the midst of so much want, how can some seize the treasury for themselves, their families and friends? And how can anyone argue after all of that, that all that is required and all that we need to pay attention to is the technicality of how such people are possibly arrested?
As the Senate President just pointed out, a few subsidy scams consumed almost N5 Trillion. When you consider that the budget is N6 Trillion, the size, the scale of the damage is clear. So I am sure that we all agree that there is no point bringing together this most distinguished, erudite and knowledgeable group for an intellectual exigencies on the consequences of corruption.
Indeed, a conference on corruption in which the arms of government are invited can, in my view, have one objective, and one objective alone, which is: what is the way out of this existential evil?
So, a gathering like this presents a unique opportunity to explore a consensus on how to free our nation and its most crucial institutions from the ravages of corruption or as the President said famously, how to kill it before it kills us.
Indeed we have a chance to develop a uniquely Nigerian approach to deal with this problem. I think it is important for us to be humble and clear headed enough to understand that the coalition that should emerge from such a consensus is not a coalition of saints, neither can it be a conclave of only righteous men and women bound by holier-than-thou creed and a crusading view. No, that will fail.
What we need is a coalition of reasonable men and women of the Nigerian bureaucratic, political, business and religious elite. Men and women who believe that the proposition that corruption does not pay is not merely a moral injunction, that it is an admission of a grave reality in commerce, in governance or whatever other field of human endeavor.
That a corrupt executive, for example, will destroy all plans of development, that a corrupt legislature will use its legislative and oversight functions to enrich itself and compromise its roles of checks and balances, and the corrupt judiciary will sell its powers over life and death to the highest bidder and will turn society to the anarchical notion that self-help is best. That corruption in the capital market or banking system means that we cannot be sure that our investments will ever be safe. We may wake up one day to find that the banks or stocks that we put our resources in have failed because of the dishonest acts of a few. It means that the corrupt law enforcement officer will settle personal scores with its exclusive rights to use the force of state power. So, the proposition that corruption does not pay is simply one that captures the self-destructive nature of corruption.
The reason why we elect men and women as leaders in the executive, judiciary and legislature, and why we appoint men and women in the judiciary is that we desire an orderly society where we entrust the power to make decisions about how to spend our collective resources for the common good to a few. This is because reasonable men and women discovered long ago that if we allow everyone to take care of themselves, we will remain in the state of nature fighting like savages for our own portion of the meat.
We give power to adjudicate on our lives and livelihood to the fairest and most honest amongst us who is called a judge, otherwise law and justice will serve only the strongest and the richest. So the reason why the elite in different countries of the world decide to fight corruption is quite straightforward, it is not necessarily altruistic, it is not necessarily a moral issue. But that first, it protects even the elites itself from being consumed from the chaos and the conflict that the corruption may cause. And more importantly if public officials and private sector persons generally observe a code of integrity, the society itself is saved from a breakdown of law and order.
Your excellency, the Senate President, Honorable Speaker, we have an opportunity today to begin an important national project and I wish to emphasize that this should not be a finger-pointing exercise. What is required is a consensus of reasonable men and women who realize that the current path will destroy us all, that such a consensus will produce a coalition of the like-minded from the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, united by a common cause and proposition namely; that this Republic will fall and consume us all if we do not put in place a practical plan to clean up our crucial public and private institutions.
Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Zhou Pingjian has indictaed to President Muhammadu Buhari that hundreds of investors in his country are eager to come to Nigeria ad invest.
He stressed that he is being inundated with so many requests by investors from his country who have been ‘‘falling over one another” to explore business opportunities in Nigeria.
Zhou Pingjian spoke today, Tuesday, when he presented his Letter of Credence to President Buhari at the Presidential Villla, Abuja.
The Chinese Ambassador said the investors had been attracted by the ‘‘remarkable and audacious’’ change process that President Buhari’s administration implemented in safeguarding security, fighting corruption and restoring integrity and sanctity in all public sector transactions.
Receiving the Ambassador, President Buhari said that Nigeria is ready to receive prospective investors who have signified interests in Nigeria, from China.
Buhari said that his government is ready to provide counterpart funding for all agreements reached with China to fast- track ongoing efforts in closing infrastructure gaps, even as he commended the readiness of the Chinese public and private sectors to invest in Nigeria, especially in areas that directly improve the livelihood of Nigerians.
“We really appreciate the efforts of the Chinese government and its people in supporting Nigeria’s development by always seeking to improve our bilateral relations.
“We are also happy that China is working with Nigeria as partners in progress. We will work hard to always meet the counterpart funding for all the agreements reached during my visit to China in April, as we look forward to stronger ties.”
President Buhari said that the relationship between Nigerian and China had over the years bolstered the country’s economy through technology and skills transfer in areas like rail, road and energy constructions.
President Buhari also received Letters of Credence from the Ambassador of the Republic of Austria, Mr. Warner Senfter; Ambassador of the State of Israel, Mr. Guy Feldman and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway, Mr. Jens-Petter Kjemprud. [myad]
An elder statesman, Chief Ayo Adebanjo has described corrupt judges now going through investigation across the country as one chance armed robbers
Adebanjo, who spoke on StandPoint, a political programme on Television Continental (TVC), in Lagos, insisted that the Department of the State Security (DSS) acted within its mandate by arresting the judges on alleged corruption charges.
Adebanjo said that cash-for-justice had long been the mainstay in the judiciary, adding: “from day one, I have said there are so many good judges in Nigeria and there are so many good lawyers in Nigeria. It is only small cliques that are corrupt and are corrupting the entire system.
“I never imagined this would happen in my life! As soon as they started having judges appointed into election petition tribunals, I saw the worst thing to have happened to Nigeria. “On interlocutory injunctions, judges will take money from right, left and centre and at the end of the day, they will give it to the highest bidder.
“Now, I am convinced beyond reasonable doubt and nobody has challenged me, quite a number of our judges today are behaving like one-chance armed robbers because when they are appointed into these election tribunals, they collect as much as they can…
“Lawyers do not denigrate the judiciary, we want the best for it, but we are not having the best times at all. Remember, the military laid down a terrible onslaught against the judiciary. “The process of appointments into the high bench has been fraught with a lot of terrible policy measures. It has always been a reward for loyalty and sympathy; either to a military administrator or the man at the centre. These judges never knew how to stand for the people or support the government of the day.
Also leader of a Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), Jiti Ogunye decried the grafts that have pervaded the judiciary, saying that the National Judicial Council (NJC) does not have the power to prosecute corrupt judges.
Ogunye said that since the NJC is not a law enforcement authority, the DSS stepped in, having acted on several petitions against some of the arrested judges. “Some people that are saying the DSS’ actions are justified have been harassed by the same DSS in the past! They had no reason to say that what they did was justified. The DSS had harassed Falana in the past and this had nothing to do with ‘they said something yesterday…! You cannot trivialise it like that!
“I talk about the law…as at today, in this country and challenge anybody to say anything to the contrary, the NJC’s principal responsibility is about the appointment of judges and the administrative regulation of their conduct. Whether what they did or didn’t do amounts to misconduct simplicity or gross misconduct and so, did they award the punishment ranging from warning, suspension to recommendation for removal from the bench which the executive would accept and here, I reference section 292 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), first part of the Third Schedule, paragraph 20-22, sections 153, 158 and 160 of the same Constitution. That is their responsibility.
“Because of the intelligence required and because of the secretive nature of that operation, carried out by a secret service; because we are talking here about the third arm of government, people forget that the Judiciary is not just the Judiciary. The judiciary is also an arm of government. It is also an arm of government…” Igho Akinride of the CLO believes “corruption is everywhere, including the Presidency.”
Facts have emerged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), arrested the wife of former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, Precious Chikwendu and his eight months old baby, Aragorn, in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti state because she wanted to withdraw money from a flagged account.
It was gathered that Mr. Fani-Kayode’s wife attempted to withdraw money in Access Bank from an account which had been flagged by the commission long ago.
As with any such flagged account, anyone who tries to withdraw money from it will be invited for questioning by the commission.
It was gathered that upon arrival of Fani-Kayode’s wife to withdraw money from the flagged account, the bank quickly informed the commission.
However, in a message circulated by Fani-Kayode, he claimed that his wife travelled to Ado-Ekiti to see Governor Ayodele Fayose.
“They were on their way out of town when they went to Access Bank in Ado Ekiti to get some money.
“When they got there, my 8 month old son Aragorn and wife Precious Chikwendu were illegally detained, brutalised and put under arrest on the orders of the EFCC at a bank in Ado Ekiti.”
He said that his wife did no wrong and had never been invited by the anti-corruption agency. [myad]
There are indications that about 100 Chibok schoolgirls, abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in April 2014 may not want to return to their parents and the society even if they are freed.
A community leader, Mr. Pogu Bitrus, who has been involved in the negotiations to obtain the release of the girls, said today in Chibok that the girls are ashamed to return home because they were forced to marry the insurgents and have had their babies.
Pogu Bitrus, who serves as chairman of the Chibok Development Association (CDA), said that some of the 21 girsl who were recently released by the insurgents said that they were used as domestic workers and porters but were not sexually abused.
He said that some of the girls may be suffering from ‘Stockholm syndrome,’ where they identify with and feel affection for their captors
Mr Bitrus said the freed girls have told their parents they were separated into two groups early on in their captivity, when Boko Haram commanders gave them the choice of joining the extremists and embracing Islam, or becoming their slaves.
He said the 21 girls freed last week might have to be educated abroad because of the stigma they will face in Nigeria.
Bitrus said that the girls who were released last week have said six more died during their 30 months in captivity and that many of those who escaped two years ago were taunted as ‘Boko Haram wives’ by people in Chibok and had moved away.
Bitrus said: “we would prefer that they are taken away from the community and this country because the stigmatization is going to affect them for the rest of their lives. Even someone believed to have been abused by Boko Haram would be seen in a bad light.”
A total of 276 schoolgirls were taken from a school in Chibok by Boko Haram insurgents in 2014. [myad]
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Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr, the eldest son of late environmental rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa is dead.
Former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro has told the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) that he gave Governor Ayodele Fayose the sum of $5.377 million out of the N4.745 billion wired to a company linked to him by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Femi Fani-Kayode And His Rabid Foolery! By Rotimi Fashakin
It is not all the time you respond to the inanities of fools; it is conventional wisdom of Africans that such actions usually come with its inherent risks. It is possible that, in such engagements, the normal human being is often confused with the madman. Nonetheless, the Holy Scriptures aptly counsel us to “to answer the fool in his foolishness lest he becomes wise in his conceit.” (Proverbs 26:5). It is my desire to respond to the random musings of Femi Fani Kayode on the purported detention of his wife and toddler-son in a Bank in Ekiti state.
The FACT as stated by the Economic and Financial crimes Commission (EFCC) revealed that Precious Chikwendu, FFK’s wife, traveled to Ekiti state (she is not a resident of Ekiti!) to withdraw money from an account that had been placed on hold because of linkage with slush funds of the Goodluck Jonathan presidential campaign in 2015. She had used a Zenith account linked to FFK to apply for her BVN. Further security checks revealed that FFK had employed the woman to execute several fraudulent transactions, which he compensated with the handsome gift of Range Rover (sport) car. How else can one explain why FFK chose Ekiti state as the place to perpetrate his mindboggling larcenous impudence other than that Ekiti space is now polluted by gubernatorial fart?
Without a doubt, FFK is broke and needs money, lots of money, to service his self-inflicted afflictions of illicit drug abuse; he resorted to the desperate attempt at withdrawing from the account still harbouring over two million naira of slush funds through his alter ego. The ease with which FFK obfuscates issues is legendary. Anytime, his odious past is called to question, he finds it very easy to drag President Buhari along with him. Of course, he has found it convenient preying on the bitterness of the acolytes of the last regime, who are still smarting from the loss of the Presidential election of 2015, despite the humongous dollar-denominated electoral investments all over Nigeria! Imagine a serial wife beater calling President Buhari a misogynist? The other day, after abandoning his narcotics rehab medication, he declared openly the three Igbo women he had had intimate dealings with. One of his said victims later revealed that this bloke is a serial pedophile with the savagery of a cruel being!
It goes without saying that FFK cannot engage in any productive venture; he has gotten so used to huge free funds that it is doubtful if he can ever do honest business in this life. He made his choice on his preferences in life; it is infernal when he languidly clutches on red-herring ploys in his delusional attempt at confusing unsuspecting Nigerians. He constantly alludes to the profession of Christian faith and political opposition to the ruling APC as the cause of travails. We all know that that there is commensurate comeuppance for any misdeed of man. Of course, FFK, with his education, knows this fact but prefers to play the deception script. What is disgusting is the ease with which he throws stones at the President whenever another shady part of his life is exposed. The promise that I can give FFK is that, for every pebble he throws at the President, he should expect a boulder thrown at him. That is a promise and not a threat!
Engr. Rotimi Fashakin. [myad]