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Peter Obi: The Daura plot that failed
Why does Reno Omokri, appear so inconsolable? Since the conclusion of the burial of Muhammadu Buhari, President, 2015-2023, on Tuesday, he has been all and about the social media, displaying the disposition of someone who was unfortunate enough to be rubbed by agbara – that dangerous fruit, found in the forest, which contact with the skin causes great itching and discomfort to its ill-fated victim.
Forget that he has become so engrossed with Peter Obi for a long time now that he has now been named in some quarters as Minister of Peter Obi Affairs, his posturing in the last 24 hours has been replete with some strange verve and frenzy that could only be attributed to serious and undiluted frustration. The question, is why?
Within that period, he has dished out more than three statement – all pointing to one subject matter – Obi’s absence at the funeral of Buhari, the former military Head of State who later became the 15th leader of Nigeria, after his passing in a London on Sunday.
This morning, he upped the ante with a fresh, mocking claim, that it was because there was no food to be served at the funeral event that made him decide to be absent – in apparent reference to the video, which showed Obi serving food last week at charity event organised by the Catholic Church in Imo State. See the frustration, witness the high degree and depth of his pain!
Come to think of it, Obi has more than enough reasons not to attend Buhari’s funeral. Such reasons are either cultural or political or both. In Igbo land, funerals are not only cultural, but highly spiritual. Indeed, the spiritual aspect is so fundamental and strong that any form of disobedience to its dictates could be fatal. Let me explain.
If my father dies and a friend of mine doesn’t come to pay me condolences, I’m constrained to return the same treatment if his own father dies. It doesn’t matter the bond between us. In other words, condolences to the bereaved is a debt to be paid or repaid. Again, if you did not take a cow to my father’s burial, I must not come to yours with one, and if he did, no matter how long it takes me to gather enough resources to reciprocate the gesture, it is an obligation that must be fulfilled. It must not be ignored.
Now, how does this relate? I’m aware that Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the late Ikemba Nnewi, a senior military officer of the Nigerian Army, who before his stint with Biafra, must have commanded Buhari’s commanders, if not him directly, was given a state burial, after he died in 2010, the same way the late former President was given on Tuesday. I don’t recall seeing Buhari or most of the people who were in Daura, his community in Katsina at that event.
Obi was the governor at the time the event took place under former President Goodluck Jonathan. In other words, he was the chief mourner that took the condolences on behalf of the state. So, on that score and added to the fact that Ojukwu was his political father, Obi, could conveniently rely on that as an excuse not to be in Daura.
But even if it didn’t constitute a taboo for him to attend, on the argument that the late Ikemba was not his biological father, there is another cultural norm to cover his absence. ‘Uno onwu a-di erure, utu k’ona agba’ – translated – condolences don’t rot, but only grows moulds. What this means is that unlike a rotten item that becomes useless, you can clean off a mould on an item and still find it useful. In other world condolences or funerals could be deferred to a period of convenience. It doesn’t end in one day.
On the political side, Obi also has every reason to be antagonistic of Buhari. Who doesn’t know the role the late President played in cheating him out of the 2023 presidential election, which he clearly won? Buhari was not only an opponent but his silence to the crooked electoral process made him both an enabler and arrowhead of the manipulation that saw Obi come third from the obvious first position.
Outside that, who doesn’t know what Peter Obi represents in Nigeria’s political firmament today? Now, think for a moment what the situation could have been, if Obi was sighted anywhere near that event. The mistake most people make is to think that his cult following is restricted to the South. His appearance at that event would have provided the naysayers evidence of his deep and widespread influence.
Let me paint the different scenarios Obi’s cameo appearance either in Katsina or Daura would have caused. The first, would have been that the crowd of youths could have broken into wild ululation capable of causing a stampede, capable also of resulting into fatalities. That’s one.
The second one could have been that knowing his political leverage, the All Progressives Congress (APC) hunters looking for his leg to make pepper soup with, could have organised a befitting welcome party for him. For instance, they could have hired some urchins to pelt him with pure water or even some more dangerous items, just to prove a point that Northern youths hate him.
Again, given the high-octane security arrangements, particularly captured in the frenzy and the razzmatazz on display at that event on Tuesday, there is no gainsaying that some overzealous operatives, eager to please their masters, could not have taken it as part of their remit to embarrass him, either by restraining him from coming close to the centre of action or found an opportunity to physically manhandle him, as part of their security operations.
In that case, not only that nobody would come to his rescue, the APC goons, including Reno, would have gone to town with embellished tales of how he got what he deserved.
All these scenarios, were any of them to have happened, would surely have detracted, diminished and blurred the solemn nature of the event and distracted many people from appreciating its import, which is respect for the dead. Any of them would have made him the centre of discussion. Obi, will never allow himself to fall victim of such an outcome.
Indeed, a development like that would have created the sort of set-up Reno Omokri, Deji Adeyanju, Omoyele Sowore and other APC goons were waiting for to feast on. But they have apparently been denied the opportunity. No wonder the whining and bellyaching.
Indeed, what these traducers appear to miss is that apart from Obi’s personal lifestyle and proclivities, he has been out there in the field for decades long before they were out of their dippers. They forget that even before breaking into the public arena as Governor of Anambra State, he had been there, crossing the proverbial seven seas and seven jungles and battling all the countervailing forces at the same time.
Someone who posts the record of constructing bank buildings and developing properties, engaging in multi-million businesses as a student, someone who sat on the boards of blue-chip companies, became chairman of a bank in his 30s and set the most historic records in his checkered political life as governor and later presidential candidate, cannot fall to the antics of minions like Reno, whose only calling is using the social media to hype or abuse people according to their pays or lack of it.
In other words, Obi, being overwhelmed or defeated by such antics, is akin to the proverbial crab, which swam across the mighty ocean only to end up in a woman’s soup pot. That Peter Obi, eventually showed up at the home of the Buhari’s less than 24 hours after the Daura staccato noise – in a quiet, unobtrusive and solemn manner – tells the whole story of who the master truly is in this game. Again Peter Obi, has won, just as I know he would!
My name is Sunny Igboanugo, I’m The Tiny Voice!
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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