News

The many lies against Oborevwori

Published

2 years ago

May 16, 2024

Whirlwindnews

By Felix Ofou

Joseph Goebbels, the author of Nazi propaganda, is known to have said: “repeat a lie, often enough, and it becomes the truth”. He became notorious for coining fables and seeking to project same as truth.

In Delta State, this master of illusion seems to have converted a tiny clique as disciples, with lies as their merchandise. These persons not only live in a fool’s paradise, but also seek to convert the majority to embrace the truth from a convoluted lens.

Ever since, it became obvious that Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori was likely to become the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta, these spin doctors quickly went to work and concocted all manner of evils, all aimed to stop a man destined for greatness.

Soon, tales of certificate forgery, age falsification and identity theft started making the rounds against Oborevwori. Conspiracy theories quickly sprang up. There seemed to be no end to the labyrinths laid out to stop him from becoming Governor.

To put paid to any hope of attaining the Governorship position, the malevolent elements extended their machinations to the courts. Over 38 cases were conjured, terminating eventually at the Supreme Court, which finally gave Governor Oborevwori total victory.

Having failed in their determination to stop the Ukodo of Okpe, as Sheriff is also known, from becoming Governor, these bearers of false tales, decided to lay siege, hoping that their targets would make mistakes they could latch on to and bring down his administration. This, for them, was an objective that would not be difficult to attain, especially since, by their fabled imagination, Deltans believe that Oborevwori was incompetent to do the job.

To drive home the point of being incompetent, these naysayers were first to criticize the composition of Oborevwori’s cabinet. Apparently, they had hoped that the executive council would be made up of recycled politicians. When this did not happen, our so called critics quickly jumped into the fray and branded the administration as incompetent.

Obviously, Governor Oborevwori assembled a blend of the young and not so old of upwardly mobile technocrats, educated hotties with a knack for excellence. This is in fulfilment of his Youth O’clock Agenda; an unprecedented development as far as governance in Delta was concerned, with majority of the cabinet members being between 30 and 45.

These unrelenting traducers of the Ukodo of Okpe have also been harbingers of the fake news associated with the award of N78 billion contract to construction giant, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Hardly a day passes without a new twist to the falsehoods linked to the transaction.

First was the claim that the N78 billion was rather exorbitant, which was another way of saying the contract was excessively inflated. They contended that local or indigenous contractors could have done the job for far less. Next was the assertion that over N50 billion had been paid to Julius Berger, half of which they alleged, had been pocketed by the Governor. This was in spite of overwhelming evidence that only 25 percent of the N78 billion had been paid as mobilisation fee to the contractors.

None of those making the false claims acknowledged that it was the first time the Delta State Government would be awarding jobs to Julius Berger. Neither did they applaud Oborevwori for insisting on delivering quality jobs to the people.

The relocation of the Faculty of Management Sciences from the main campus of the Delta State University of Technology, Ozoro in Isoko North to an offshoot campus in Orerokpe, Okpe Local Government Area provided another fodder for the grovelling elements to ply their trade.

An elated Governor Oborevwori was shocked after he announced that the relocated Faculty of Management Sciences had been replaced with three elite faculties, that a section of the naysayers retorted with jeers and hysteria. The three faculties – Basic Medical Sciences, Pharmacy and Health Sciences – were meant to provide critical manpower for the state and Nigeria in general, a masterstroke that any right thinking patriot should give the governor kudos.

Sadly, the narrative was painted that Oborevwori was against the Isoko people for approving the movement of a faculty to Orerokpe. How could anyone rate management courses over and above medicine, pharmacy or health sciences? Does it not amount to standing reason on its head to place courses for which you need to be exceptionally brilliant below that for which average performance in entry score makes students eligible to be admitted?

It is gratifying that the Ukodo of Okpe and immediate past Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly remained unfazed despite the provocation. Instead, he took the actions of these self-seeking individuals with equanimity. He has since demonstrated his love for the Isoko people by approving the establishment of the Delta State College of Health Technology in Ovrode.

When okada (motorcycle) and Keke (tricycle) riders went on protest recently, the apostles of doom sought in vain to project the Governor as weak and unable to maintain law and order. A lynch mob also sought to goad the state Chief Executive to descend harshly on the protesters, mainly because most them were from the northern part of Nigeria.

But the former Speaker shunned bigotry and initiated policies that restored order. Mechanisms has also been put in place to regulate the activities of the Keke and okada riders as well as other artisans, particularly in the urban areas, where they had become a menace in the past.

Following the unfortunate killing of 17 Officers and Solders in Okuama in Ughelli South Local Government and the consequent reprisal attack on the community, a deluge of outright lies and innuendoes were spewed in the social media and other high places. The aim was to smear Oborevwori and his less than one year administration.

On one hand, attempts were made to portray the incident as a clash between Okoloba, an Ijaw enclave and Okuama, which is Urhobo. Advocates of this narrative sought to pitch the Ijaw against the Urhobo, to generate an ethnic crisis. This was more so because the Governor is from the mainly Urhobo Central Senatorial District of the state.

However, more worrisome was the puerile attempt to get Oborevwori to confront the military for invading Okuama. Some even argued that the rights of the Okuama people was more important than the soldiers who for them died as part of their sworn duty to pay the supreme price in service of the nation.

Until His Royal Majesty, Clement Ikolo, the Ovie of Ewu, was released by the military high command on alleged suspicion of complicity in the Okuama incident, the Governor was blamed by these naysayers for allowing the King to be detained in the first place. The fact that the king willingly surrendered to the police after being declared wanted by the Army made matters worse. “Why should Sheriff allow the military to detain the King even for a day?”, they asked.

As it turned out, His Majesty was the first to acknowledge the role played by Oborevwori during his travail. He has since visited the Government House in Asaba to express appreciation for the show of love and solidarity by the Governor.

With the setting up of a camp for displaced persons (IDPs) and provision of palliatives for victims, most critics of Oborevwori’s style have become mute and are daily coming to the reality that the man truly cares and determined to be Governor for all.

Yet, there is nothing to suggest that the apostles of Goebbels’ philosophy are willing to cease their illusory pursuit of doom for administration. Neither will the former Speaker, like the Trojan Horse, fail in excelling in a hale of dust as the captain of a triumphant orchestra. The die is cast.

● Ofou is Executive Assistant on New Media to the Governor of Delta State.

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News

Atiku to Tinubu: Obi must not die! *Release e-Rufai now!

Published

10 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Whirlwindnews

“Nothing must happen to Peter Obi. An injury to one is an injury to all. When one opposition leader is intimidated, every opposition voice is diminished,” came the immediate reaction of Atiku Abubakar candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in the 2027 presidential election on Thursday.

It was a day Atiku, who came second in the 2023 election and Obi, third, in the declaration made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), also asked for the release of Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, warning that democracy is threatened when opposition figures are intimidated.

Obi, Governor of Anambra State between 2006 to 2014, had accused the federal government of deliberately frustrating his means of livelihood and targeting opposition figures, while appearing on #WithChude podcast, a programme hosted by Chude Jidonwo, a popular Nigerian social media host.

On the same Tuesday, Obi’s outing broke on social media, where he claimed that the way the Tinubu government was pursuing him, he was not sure of making it to the 2027 election alive, the family of the former Kaduna State Governor, also came publicly to describe stark details of what the family head, currently in detention since February this year, has been facing.

Conveying his distaste on the two situations through, Phrank Shaibu, his spokesman, Atiku, Nigeria’s Vice President between 1999 and 2007, added: “When one citizen begins to fear because of his political beliefs, democracy itself becomes the casualty.”

In a quick riposte to the scant regard, Aso Rock seemed to have placed on Obi’s fears, the former VP, said: “The Presidency must understand that democratic leadership demands composure, not contempt. When a citizen, particularly an opposition figure, voices concerns about the state of the nation or his personal safety, the first duty of government is to reassure through statesmanship, facts and responsible conduct—not through insults.

“Democracies are strengthened by reasoned engagement, not by invective. A government that answers every criticism with abuse projects insecurity, not confidence. The opposition is not the enemy of Nigeria.

“Poverty is the enemy. Hunger is the enemy. Insecurity is the enemy. Corruption is the enemy. Kidnapping is the enemy. The daily bloodletting across our communities is the enemy. A government that devotes more energy to attacking its critics than confronting these existential challenges has confused political survival with the purpose of governance. There are schoolchildren and teachers still waiting to be reunited with their families. There are countless innocent Nigerians languishing in the camps of kidnappers,” he said.

“These are the emergencies that deserve the full machinery of government—not endless political sparring with opposition figures. The Federal Government must devote the same urgency it applies to political communication to rescuing kidnapped Nigerians and restoring public confidence in national security.”

Regarding the plight of el-Rufai, Atiku stated: “The continued detention of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has generated widespread public concern. Every Nigerian, irrespective of political affiliation, is entitled to due process, equal protection under the law and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty by a competent court. Justice must never create the appearance of selective application.

“Public confidence is not restored through insults or propaganda. It is restored through openness, accountability and the courage to answer legitimate questions,” he said.

“Governments earn trust by confronting controversy with facts, strengthening institutions and demonstrating that no one is above scrutiny. Our elders say: ‘When the drums of injustice beat for your neighbour, do not dance, for tomorrow they may beat for you. Every Nigerian, regardless of political affiliation, has a stake in defending the democratic space. Release Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

“Bring home every abducted schoolchild, every teacher and every innocent Nigerian still languishing in the hands of kidnappers.

“Stop chasing political opponents and start confronting the crises that are bleeding our nation. History will not remember how fiercely a government fought its critics.

“It will remember whether it protected its citizens, upheld justice, rescued the vulnerable and preserved the democracy entrusted to its care.”

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News

Aljazeera has since begged me over offensive interview – Bwala

Published

11 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Whirlwindnews

“They apologised to me privately. I said they should put it on social media. They said they will not put it on social media, it will affect their credibility, because it’s not just them, but their other programmers at the Al Jazeera network too.”

These were the words of Daniel Bwala, while giving further insight into what has transpired along the line since his controversial interview with Mehdi Hasan of Al Jazeera, a global television network in March 2026, stating that the station privately apologised to him.

Bwala, who appeared on The Morayo Show, a private talk-show programme, hosted by Morayo Afolabi-Brown, a popular television presenter, however said because both Mehdi and Al Jazeera, refused to make the apology public, he was prompted him to instruct his lawyers in England to sue for defamation.

Clips on the controversial outing in which Bwala, spokesman for the campaign of Atiku Abubakar during his presidential bid in 2023, were in the public domain for several weeks after where a groundswell of commentators believed his performance was not only underwhelming, but he was outrightly disgraced.

He added: “The substance of the apology was that they should have told me that part of what they discussed with me was a talking point, that they were also going to interrogate me on my credibility for supporting the person I had attacked before.

“By their own ethics, they ought to have told me that, but they said they were sorry they didn’t. If you’re bold, if you call yourself a journalist, a fact-checker, you run your programme live and let people judge live.

“If you’re thinking straight, that’s what you’d do. You took creative control of the programme. You made a recorded programme. Ethics demanded you publish it exactly as it was recorded.”

Informing that the programme ran for one hour and 30 minutes but Al Jazeera published only 49 minutes, he accused the network of skewing the footage in Hasan’s favour, adding: “The deeper point is that they cut out the parts where I was fact-checking him and the crowd was clapping for me, and instead kept the parts where he was speaking and people were clapping for him. He’d ask me a question, I’d deny it, then he’d play the old clip. We call that ‘cut and joined’ in media. After doing that, which amounts to a smear campaign, he didn’t give me the chance to react to it.

“Instead, he let it appear that I was simply asked a question, denied it, was shown the clip, denied it again, was shown another clip, and denied it again. He removed that part, because if he’d left it in, anyone watching would understand that I had already answered the question upfront, and that my later denials were a response to his repeated bringing it up. That’s where the unethical conduct of a professional issue arose.

“When they apologised, I said no, put it on social media. They refused. So, I instructed my lawyers in England to go to court. The case is currently in court. Because my advisers in England said it’s defamation of character.”

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News

More ISWAP terrorists, families, surrender to Nigerian troops – army

Published

11 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Whirlwindnews

More successes are being recorded by Nigerian forces trying to rout out terrorist in parts of the country, with emerging reports indicating that the perpetrators are currently running scared from the hot onslaughts they are getting from the operatives.

Channels Television, is quoting military authorities at the Operation Hadin kai (OPHK) conducting military blitzkrieg against the terrorists in the North East as saying that the troops received six Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), one of the major terrorist groups operating in the area, who surrendered alongside their families, at the 192 Battalion (Main) Sector 1 of the body.

Quoting a statement on Wednesday by Mohammed Goni, spokesman of the military operation, with headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State, the report, said that among the items recovered from the terrorists and their families included a cumulative sum of more than N1.5 million, two Tecno mobile phones, and other items.

Th statement, added that troops of 115 Task Force Battalion, while conducting ongoing search and rescue operations in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, on July 7, rescued two additional abductees from a terrorist hideout, where they also recovered cash of N1.2 million suspected to be proceeds of criminal activities, food items, and other logistics believed to have supported terrorist operations.

The rescued victims have since been evacuated to a secure location where they are receiving appropriate medical care and psychosocial support, the report said, adding that during the same period, the troops noted that it contained a coordinated attack by ISWAP terrorists in Borno, and one of the soldiers was killed.

“Although the insurgents briefly exploited a section of the base’s defensive perimeter during the intense firefight, the troops rapidly regrouped, mounted a determined counter-offensive and decisively expelled the attackers, inflicting significant casualties and forcing the surviving terrorists to flee with varying degrees of gunshot wounds.

“Regrettably, one gallant soldier paid the supreme price, while two gun-trucks and some combat enablers sustained damage during the engagement. The situation at FOB Logomani remains firmly under the control of Operation HADIN KAI troops, with reinforcements deployed, exploitation operations ongoing and additional measures being implemented to further strengthen the defensive resilience of the location.”

Detailing how troops of 232 Battalion apprehended a notorious criminal in Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa State, the statement, said: “Follow-up exploitation of the arrest led to the recovery of one AK-47 rifle, two magazines, and twenty-eight rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition.

“The suspect and recovered items are currently in military custody, while further investigations are underway to identify and apprehend other members of the criminal network.”

Similarly, the statement said troops of the 149 Battalion arrested two suspected terrorist logistics suppliers in the Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State.

The recovered items include cash sums, a Volkswagen Golf vehicle, construction materials, household items, and other supplies suspected to have been destined for terrorist elements.

The suspects are currently undergoing interrogation, while the recovered items remain in military custody as investigations continue.

As part of ongoing offensive operations, troops of 24 Task Force Brigade, in conjunction with members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, conducted a clearance operation on known terrorist enclaves around Wulgo.

During the operation, the troops said they exploited the terrorists’ hasty withdrawal and recovered a sack containing assorted illicit drugs abandoned by the fleeing insurgents.

“The recovery further underscores the sustained pressure being mounted on terrorist elements, denying them freedom of movement and disrupting their operational capabilities.”

Relatedly, the troops apprehended a suspected BHT/ISWAP logistics supplier at the Molai checkpoint in possession of large quantities of medical supplies without due clearance. The suspect and items recovered are in custody for further interrogation.

Again, in Sector 2 Area of Responsibility, Troops of 233 Tank Battalion, in conjunction with local hunters, intercepted and arrested a suspected BHT/ISWAP terrorist logistics supplier from Ngirya village of Tarmuwa LGA with five motorcycle tires. The suspect and items are in military custody for investigation.

“These latest operational gains underscore the effectiveness of sustained offensive operations, actionable intelligence and the seamless collaboration among security agencies and auxiliary forces in dismantling terrorist logistics networks, disrupting criminal activities and protecting vulnerable communities across the North East”, the statement added.

Headquarters Operation HADIN KAI assured the public that ongoing search and rescue operations will continue with unwavering resolve until every abducted person is accounted for and safely reunited with their families.

“The Theatre Command also issues a stern warning to individuals involved in supplying food, fuel, construction materials, transportation or any other form of logistics to terrorist groups to immediately desist. Anyone found aiding, abetting or collaborating with terrorist elements, directly or indirectly, will be identified, apprehended and prosecuted in accordance with the law.”

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