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Jonathan explodes! *Tinubu, Akpabio, judiciary messing up Nigeria!
Goodluck Jonathan, former Nigerian President, on Saturday bemoaned the state of affairs in the country, warning against the consequences of impunity and brazen level of abuse of power, which he said had taken root in the three arms of government – executive, legislature and judiciary.
Specifically, the ex-President, whose record as the first to willingly accept defeat in an election he was a candidate shot him into global limelight as a democrat, warned that a situation in which the independence of the judiciary had suffered brazen attacks and compromise would never make progress.
Speaking as the Chairman of this year’s edition of Haske Satumari Foundation Colloquium in Abuja on Saturday, Jonathan cited examples with the current crisis in Rivers State, where President Bola Tinubu imposed a State of Emergency and dismantled the democratic structure in the state as part of wrongdoings by those holding the levers of power in the country.
Not only that there was a groundswell of protest in many informed quarters against the move by the President, but many Nigerians also cried foul at the handling of the issue by the National Assembly, where the pronouncement was endorsed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Railing against the development, Jonathan accused all those involved of not playing by the rules, saying that they not all knew the steps they were taking were wrong, but actually knew the right steps to take but deliberately doing the opposite, a situation he said would not augur well for Nigeria.
Hear him: “What is happening to Nigeria today, regarding what is happening in Rivers State is like an Indian proverb that says that if somebody is really sleeping, you can easily wake up that person, but if the person is pretending to be asleep, you find it difficult to wake that person. The key actors in Nigeria from the executive to the legislature and the judiciary, they know the correct thing to do, but they’re refusing to do it. They’re pretending to sleep. And waking that person is extremely difficult because the person knows the right thing.
“There is a clear abuse of offices, clear abuse of power, clear abuse of privileges, cutting across the three arms of government, from the executive through the parliament, through the judiciary. I always plead with our people that whatever we do affects everybody. And sometimes we do things and we think that it doesn’t affect us.
“I’ve been a President before and even out of office, people still get to me. Why is that our passport is not valued that much? Why is that Nigerians are not given the type of treatment we’re supposed to receive at international airports? Sometimes you think it is because of Yahoo Boys or 419ners. It is not only them. Yes, they’re part of the problem, but whatever happens in a country – decisions that are taken by the executive arm of government – decisions by the parliament – judicial positions, affect everybody.
“For example, no businessman can bring his money to invest in a country where the judiciary is compromised, where a government functionary can dictate to judges what judgement they’ll give. No man brings his money to invest in such a country because you’re taking a big risk. So, whatever we do, affects everybody.
“If we must build a nation for our children and grandchildren, no matter how painful it is, we must strive to do what is right. It may cost us, but we must endeavour and pay the price to insist on doing what is right. Whether you’re holding executive office as a President, a Minister or a Governor, Special Adviser, whether you’re holding an office in the parliament as Senate or Reps, whether you’re a judicial officer, at the High Court or Appellate Court, you must strive to do what is right – if we must try to build a nation that our children will be proud of.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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