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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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US-Iran deal: Petrol prices remain high in Nigeria *Marketers snub Dangote

Published

19 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Whirlwindnews

Fuel marketers across Abuja on Wednesday continued to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, at old prices more than 24 hours after Dangote Petroleum Refinery announced a reduction in its ex-depot price, Vanguard is reporting.

The paper reported that its investigation, showed that major retail outlets were yet to adjust their pump prices despite the N75 per litre reduction announced by the refinery on Monday.

At the retail stations visited in Abuja, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Retail and TotalEnergies dispensed petrol at N1,335 per litre, while AA Rano sold at N1,350 per litre. AYM Shafa and Conoil outlets sold the product at N1,330 per litre.

The development comes amid growing public expectations that the reduction in Dangote Refinery’s gantry price would quickly translate into lower pump prices nationwide.

Explaining the delay, the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, said retail prices are influenced by several factors beyond refinery gate prices.

Speaking to Channels TV, Gillis-Harry said: “Prices reflecting at the pump are dependent on availability of the product, the other is the cost. The cost of purchasing the product and cost in terms of logistics, and preparing the particular petroleum to be delivered to the people”.

According to him, downward price adjustments often take longer to reach consumers because marketers need to recover the cost of existing stock purchased at higher prices before restocking at lower rates.

When asked why increases in fuel prices are usually reflected immediately while reductions are delayed, Gillis-Harry said the dynamics of supply management play a significant role.

He explained: “It is mainly affected by whether the producer has additional resources or not at the time. Increases in prices are mainly caused by the need to restock. There must be that advantage pushing the price upward to be able to pay for new supplies.”

He further acknowledged that marketers generally seek to exhaust existing inventory before implementing lower prices.

“That’s the basic idea. But in petroleum, a mixture is involved, and loss is taken, though not in a way that affects the capital needed to restock,” he added.

Also speaking on the issue, energy analyst Olabode Sowunmi said fuel pricing in Nigeria is influenced by a combination of domestic supply arrangements and logistics costs, rather than crude oil prices alone.

He noted that although international crude oil prices remain an important factor globally, their impact on local petrol pricing is not always direct.

“Global price of crude oil is a factor internationally and not necessarily in Nigeria,” Sowunmi said.

Explaining that Dangote Refinery operates under arrangements that allow a portion of crude supply to be priced in naira, reducing the direct impact of international market fluctuations on local fuel prices, he said: “So basically the issue will have to be from the point of refinery to where it touches the final person. Logistics costs within the domestic supply chain remain a major determinant of the final pump price paid by consumers.”

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Obi dares opponents: I’m an open book! *Expose me, scrutinise others too!

Published

2 days ago

June 17, 2026

Whirlwindnews

Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.

Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.

A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.

His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.

Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.

“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.

“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”

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Lifu: This mustn’t happen again – Atiku *Judiciary mustn’t be used to destroy democracy

Published

2 days ago

June 17, 2026

Whirlwindnews

For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.

Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.

The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).

A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.

In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.

Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.

“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.

This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”

Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”

He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.

“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.

Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.

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