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Till my last breath, I’ll make peace – Jonathan *I almost rejected VP offer
For Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s President – 2010-2015 – making peace – an attribute which he demonstrated by becoming the first Nigerian at that level to be voted out of power – will remain his major life’s pursuit on earth till his last breath.
The former Governor of Bayelsa State and later Vice President, had made history and gained national and international acclaim when he saved a troubled Nigeria from anxiety by throwing in the towel to acknowledge defeat at the 2015 presidential election that pitted him against Muhammadu Buhari, President – 2015-2023.
He pledged to continue do more by devoting his life to the promotion of peace and service to humanity in the country and across the globe, before the gathering on Sunday in Abuja at a reception organised by the “Friends of Dr Goodluck Jonathan” on his receiving the 2025 prestigious Sunhak Global Peace Prize Award in Seoul, South Korea.
The former President, who said stressed that it had always been his desire to impact lives and promote peace in his space, added: “I wouldn’t say much, but only to thank you and to reassure you that my commitment to peace will continue. I will continue to do my little best until the last day I live on earth. I believe that’s the only way I can serve God, by serving man.”
Jonathan said that though he suffered while growing up as a child because of his humble background, he always felt sad seeing people suffering or seeing a country going through crisis.
The former governor of Bayelsa added that it was his desire to see that no Nigerian suffer any lack, even though it was not so easy or possible for any president to achieve that.
“That has been my fear, and that was why I was very reluctant when I was approached to come to the centre, to be a Vice President. I said, look, Bayelsa is a small state. Let me see what I can do with this small state, whether I can make significant changes, but today here am I.”
Jonathan, while appreciating the organisers of the Sunhak Global Peace Prize Award for counting him worthy, saying, he never expected it, also expressed delight at the reception for the great honour, even though he initially declined it.
“I also appreciate all those who attended this reception. I have listened to the comments from all of you, and I can only say thank you for those good words. They are quite encouraging,” he said.
Peter Obi, presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), in 2023, who was the Chairman of the occasion, said that Nigeria would continue to celebrate Jonathan for the sacrifices he had made to make the country peaceful, added that everybody who knew what the former President represented and the hope he had brought to Nigeria’s democracy, would not fail to celebrate him.
His words: “There is no special day to celebrate this award other than today, Easter Day, which is a day of sacrifice. We will continue to celebrate you for the sacrifice you made for this country to be at peace. You have put in a lot of effort to ensure there is peace in Nigeria, Africa and the world as a whole.”
Azibaola Robert, Managing Director of Kakatar Group, who initiated the occasion as the Chief Host, explained that the friends of the former President found it worthy to celebrate him for the global recognition, describing him as someone who has a strong passion for peace.
Stressing that the event was an appreciation of the pattern of life that Jonathan had lived and for the impact he had shown as a politician and a statesman, he said Jonathan, as a brother, had created a big character that is very hard to step in for because every day there is a new lesson to gain from his presence, describing him as a God-sent not only to his Bayelsa people but to Nigeria and the rest of the world.
Hassan Tukur, a former Principal Private Secretary to the former President, while speaking glowingly about him, while describing the Award as well-deserved, said Jonathan had demonstrated his love for peace during the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Guinea-Bissau and many other countries across the globe during and after his tenure as president of Nigeria.
He recalled how Jonathan led ECOWAS, AU and UN to restore peace in Côte d’Ivoire in the aftermath of the crisis that followed the disputed 2010 presidential runoff election between former President, Laurent Gbagbo and his former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara.
Hear him: “Without President Jonathan’s intervention, the peace wouldn’t have been possible. He saved lives, he saved people, and he saved the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. Today, the country is one of the most peaceful countries in this sub-region.
“There was also a crisis in Mali when Jonathan was in office. He was the only President that took his plane and went to Mali in the middle of a crisis, sitting down there for 12 hours negotiating with all the various interested parties. Up to date, the Malians are grateful that he was the only sitting president who visited their country in the height of their crisis and addressed their problems.”
Also citing how the former President saved Kenya from going to war that would have claimed many lives in that country, Tukur said that even after leaving office, the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation had continued working hard to promote peace in the region.
“This honour is not only to former president Jonathan and his family but to Nigerians and the country. He is a humanist. He is a man of peace. He is a man of integrity. And he is a man of foresight,” he said.
Former Minister of Information Labaran Maku described Jonathan as a patriot and transformer, in which the country would continue to cherish his legacy and good examples.
“All Nigerians are delighted in this award because Mr President, for all his days in power, both as governor of Bayelsa State and president of Nigeria, upheld the ethics of peace and national transformation.
“It is not easy to find in our clan, around this continent, a leader that will say the presidency of a nation is not worth the blood of the citizen.
“That statement was epochal, and it stood him up. In 2015, he made a national sacrifice; he refused the fight. He handed back government, the first time in Nigeria that someone would lose an election and refuse to go to court.
“May the significance of this event, its impact on our nation, and our search for peace in all communities in Nigeria yield fruits with this recognition from faraway South Korea,” he said.
Some of the dignitaries at the events included Dame Patience Jonathan; King Amalate Turner, the paramount ruler of the Oloibiri Kingdom in Bayelsa State; and Olori Opeoluwa Ogunwusi, wife of the Oni of Ife, who conducted the toast.
Hours after Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordered issued a bench warrant for the arrest Adeniyi Adeyemi, the controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), is currently in the custody police authorities.
Pictures and videos of embattled PFIPC boss being questioned in what appeared an interrogation session, surfaced on social media on Tuesday evening, with few details still sketchy on whether the police actually hunted him down or he surrendered himself.
Latest information, indicate that he is currently in the custody of the Osun State Police Command, according to a report by Channels Television, who confirmed that he has been taken in.
The order came on the prompting of Wisdom Madaki, the police lawyer after Adeyemi failed to appear in court to take his plea before on an eight-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, which relates to forgery, fraud and impersonation.
The court took the decision despite the spirited efforts by Genesis Francis, Adeyemi’s lawyer to mitigate the situation when he told Umar: “The defendant is afraid for his life. He has to be alive to be able to face trial. They have been looking for him even without an order of court.”
Regardless, the judge, while brushing aside the defence, said he was minded to accede to the application for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against the defendant, noting since case was filed on November 27, 2025, with proceedings not commencing until December 4, 2025, Adeyemi did not appear before the court more than once.
“Since then, he has failed to appear before this court on four consecutive dates,” he said, while mandating security agencies to arrest and produce the embattled PFIPC boss before the court on September 30 for arraignment.
During trial, witnesses including Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; and Ituah Sylvester, are billed to testify for the prosecution alongside the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, as well as a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The order is coming on the heels of Adeyemi’s outcry that his life was in danger, while debunking the allegation that he was a fugitive running away from the law, saying he would appear in court once he had assurance that he would be protected from those tracking him in attempts to take his life.
A guest of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, Adeyemi, had told his host on Monday: “I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life,” Adeyemi added.
He also maintained his allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment as DG of the disputed council. I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life.”
An interim police investigation report had exposed how the defendant allegedly forged appointment letters and official documents to create the impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate federal government agency.
Police disclosed that the investigation was initiated after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on October 17, 2025, over the activities of individuals allegedly forging official appointment letters purportedly issued from the office.
The petition added that preliminary findings showed the forged documents contained falsified signatures, reference numbers, official seals, and the Nigerian Coat of Arms, and that they were allegedly used to appoint individuals into the non-existent PFIPC.
Adeyemi, who was identified as the principal suspect, allegedly presented himself as the DG of the council and operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
One of those allegedly linked to the fraud, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, was said to have died in a fire incident at a hotel in Abuja.
Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director-General (DG) of an alleged “non-existent,” Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The order came on the prompting of Wisdom Madaki, the police lawyer after Adeyemi failed to appear in court to take his plea before on an eight-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, which relates to forgery, fraud and impersonation.
The court took the decision despite the spirited efforts by Genesis Francis, Adeyemi’s lawyer to mitigate the situation when he told Umar: “The defendant is afraid for his life. He has to be alive to be able to face trial. They have been looking for him even without an order of court.”
Regardless, the judge, while brushing aside the defence, said he was minded to accede to the application for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against the defendant, noting since case was filed on November 27, 2025, with proceedings not commencing until December 4, 2025, Adeyemi did not appear before the court more than once.
“Since then, he has failed to appear before this court on four consecutive dates,” he said, while mandating security agencies to arrest and produce the embattled PFIPC boss before the court on September 30 for arraignment.
During trial, witnesses including Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; and Ituah Sylvester, are billed to testify for the prosecution alongside the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, as well as a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The order is coming on the heels of Adeyemi’s outcry that his life was in danger, while debunking the allegation that he was a fugitive running away from the law, saying he would appear in court once he had assurance that he would be protected from those tracking him in attempts to take his life.
A guest of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, Adeyemi, had told his host on Monday: “I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life,” Adeyemi added.
He also maintained his allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment as DG of the disputed council. I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life.”
An interim police investigation report had exposed how the defendant allegedly forged appointment letters and official documents to create the impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate federal government agency.
Police disclosed that the investigation was initiated after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on October 17, 2025, over the activities of individuals allegedly forging official appointment letters purportedly issued from the office.
The petition added that preliminary findings showed the forged documents contained falsified signatures, reference numbers, official seals, and the Nigerian Coat of Arms, and that they were allegedly used to appoint individuals into the non-existent PFIPC.
Adeyemi, who was identified as the principal suspect, allegedly presented himself as the DG of the council and operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
One of those allegedly linked to the fraud, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, was said to have died in a fire incident at a hotel in Abuja.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi, who has since denied that the PFIPC was non-existent, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
In an open letter to President Tinubu, Adeyemi said he was prepared to provide documentary evidence and fully cooperate with investigators once an independent panel was constituted.
He recommended the inclusion of representatives of civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), independent media organisations, international financial institutions, human rights groups, and diplomatic missions, as well as the ICPC and the EFCC, on the independent investigative panel.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi, who has since denied that the PFIPC was non-existent, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
In an open letter to President Tinubu, Adeyemi said he was prepared to provide documentary evidence and fully cooperate with investigators once an independent panel was constituted.
He recommended the inclusion of representatives of civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), independent media organisations, international financial institutions, human rights groups, and diplomatic missions, as well as the ICPC and the EFCC, on the independent investigative panel.
Abdulrahman Bello, must die for the murder, Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, the Court of Appeal has insisted, rebuffing the attempt of the self-acclaimed Islamic cleric, to upturn the verdict of an Ilorin High Court.
Affirming the earlier death sentence imposed on cleric for the murder of the female student, said to be his lover, on February 10, 2025, at the Olunlade area of Ilorin, which attracted widespread public outrage across Kwara State and beyond, the appellate court said it found no reason to upturn the earlier verdict of the lower court.
Bello, who was one of the five people arraigned on charges bordering on conspiracy, murder, unlawful removal and possession of human parts and blood, also faced a rape charge, of which he was eventually acquitted by the trial court.
Justice Gabriel Omoniyi Kolawole, who led a three-man panel of the appellate court, while dismissing his appeal, held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that he murdered the victim and was unlawfully in possession of human parts.
The appellate court consequently upheld the judgment of the Kwara State High Court, which sentenced Bello to death by hanging and imposed an additional 10-year jail term over his conviction for unlawful possession of human parts.
The court held that there was no merit in the appeal and consequently affirmed both the conviction and the sentence imposed by the trial court.
According to the appellate court, the trial court properly evaluated the evidence before it and rightly concluded that the prosecution established the offences beyond reasonable doubt.
The appellate court said it believed the position of Ibrahim Sulyman, Kwara State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Issa Zakari, Chief State Counsel, and B.L. Abdulsalam, Assistant Chief State Counsel, who led the prosecution.
Hailing the judgment as another significant milestone in the state’s criminal justice administration, Sulyman, said in a statement: “The judgment underscores the commitment of the Kwara State Ministry of Justice and the judiciary to ensuring that criminal cases are determined strictly in accordance with the law and the evidence presented before the courts.
“It also reaffirms the principle that persons found guilty of grave offences, after a fair trial, will be held accountable under the law. The appellate court’s decision would strengthen public confidence in the justice system.
“The affirmation of the conviction and sentence represents another milestone in the administration of criminal justice and reinforces public confidence in the rule of law and the appellate process. The convict still retains any further rights of appeal available to him under the Constitution and other applicable laws.
Justice Hannah Ajayi of the Kwara State High Court, sitting at Ilorin, hand on July 2025 sentenced Bello to death after finding him guilty of murdering and dismembering Lawal, after describing his act as “the highest degree of human wickedness, and a premeditated and cold-blooded act.”
Dismissing Bello’s claims that he loved the deceased and intended to marry her as merely an afterthought designed to deceive the court, Ajayi, also ruled the convict’s conduct after committing the crime and before his arrest suggested that it might not have been his first involvement in such an act, while a book on money-making charms recovered from his apartment further strengthened the prosecution’s case.
Justice Ajayi further held that the video and written confessional statements obtained by operatives of the Department of State Services and the police were lawfully admitted in evidence, dismissing Bello’s allegation that he was tortured into making the confessions.
While acquitting Bello of the rape charge, the trial court convicted him of murder and unlawful possession of human parts, sentencing him to death by hanging for the murder and imposing a 10-year prison term, with an option of a N100,000 fine, for the human parts offence.
The court also discharged and acquitted the four other defendants in the case — Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Suleiman Muhydeen, Jamiu Uthman and Abdulrahman Jamiu — after holding that the prosecution failed to establish their involvement in the offences.
Reacting to the High Court judgment at the time, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman of the Kwara State Traditional Rulers Council, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, described the killing as tragic and commended the judiciary for ensuring justice.
“The gruesome murder of Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal was pathetic, unfortunate, regrettable and worrisome,” the monarch said in a statement issued by his Press Secretary, Abdulazeez Arowona.
“The judgment has further brightened the hope and trust of the people in the judiciary and security agencies. May Almighty Allah repose the soul of the late Hafsoh Lawal and comfort her family members.”
The monarch also urged parents and guardians to be vigilant and closely monitor the activities and movements of their children and wards to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
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