Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Monday 28th March 2022
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 28/03/22
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Teenager Macheted, Shot Dead In Cult Clash At Seme Border
File Photo
A 19-year-old boy, Lateef Agboola has been killed in a bloody clash between suspected rival cult groups at the Seme border. The victim, a student of Sito Grammar School, was allegedly macheted several times by the culprits before being shot at close range on Friday at Zongo area of Seme border near Badagry, Lagos State, NAN reports.
File Photo
He was said to have been a member of Eiye Confraternity.He was killed during a reprisal between rival suspected cultists. According to the report, there has been a resurgence of clashes in the past few weeks between two rival cult gangs; Eiye and Aiye confraternities in the area. “This led to the killing of one Umar Isah and subsequent arrest of Adam Sule-Ayeni, a member of Aiye confraternity who was suspected to have masterminded the killing of Isah, by the police in Seme. “The case was, however, transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Lagos for further investigation and interrogation. “Despite the arrest of Sule-Ayeni and constant patrol around the area, the killing of Agboola was done to avenge the death of Isah who was allegedly killed by the other cult group. “The deceased was sent on an errand by his mother around 8 pm on Friday when he was cornered and macheted by the group which had been monitoring his movement. “Agboola was buried by his mother around 2 pm at Zongo on Saturday,” a source was quoted as saying. The source said the situation was already generating apprehension among residents who were feeling unsafe with the recurring killings in the area.
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Oyo Local Government Chairman Under Fire For Brandishing Gun At Social Function
Chairman of Lagelu Local Government Area of Oyo state, Kazeem Adeyemi Gbadamosi, was on Friday sighted brandishing a gun at a social function held at Akobo area, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The incident occurred during the burial ceremony of the late father of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in the local government area, Chief Femi Falowo, Tribune reports.
Narrating the incident to reporters, a resident, Mr Segun Durojaiye, indicted security agencies for watching while the chairman was messing around with the gun.Durojaiye, who was at the ceremony, said: “It was a usual social gathering, but for the fact that it was the burial ceremony of a politician’s father, the event attracted politicians from across the nooks and crannies of Oyo State. Security personnel, both local and government were on the ground. “Trouble started when an aspirant of the House of Representatives seat for Lagelu/Akknyele federal constituency, Adetokunbo Abideen Adeaga, arrived at the venue alongside his supporters and local hunters who were present welcomed him with gunshots. It was at this point that the security personnel recruited by the local government authority started shooting, a development that prompted guests at the party to run for safety. “As this was ongoing, Gbadamosi, probably frightened by the presence of Adeaga, snatched a gun from one of the local government security personnel and attempted to shoot. It took the intervention of Adeaga and some other people to prevent him from shooting. “I want to on behalf of other residents call on the Governor of Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde to please call Gbadamosi to order in order to avert future occurrence, not to put residents under unnecessary tension and also not to tarnish the image of the government of Oyo State.”While reacting, Gbadamosi in a telephone conversation told Tribune that the incident was an attempt to kill him. He said: “I see what happened last Friday as an attempt to assassinate me. I was shot at twice; I can recognise the guy who shot at me. He was putting on a different dress. Adeaga came into the venue of the party with some guys in complete black attire. “Initially, I did not want to talk on this matter because it all happened in the presence of men of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police.
“What came to my mind when the shooting was ongoing was that it was a deliberate attempt to kill me just like they killed two lawmakers from our constituency, late Honourable Segun Oladimeji, aka Segelu and Olatoye, aka Sugar. I collected a gun from the security personnel to defend myself. If I did not do that at that point in time, I would have been a dead man by now.”
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E2%80%99s-emergence-apc-national-leader-will-worsen-corruption-economic-hardship Convention: Adamu’s Emergence As APC National Leader Will Worsen Corruption, Economic Hardship In Nigeria
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of not being ready to fight corruption following the emergence of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as the National Chairman of the party.
According to the PDP, the convention that produced Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa, as the national chairman of the APC was a “jamboree of lies”.
It said his emergence as the party’s leader would worsen corruption in the country considering Adamu’s history with the anti-corruption agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, stated the “imposition of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a man who was arraigned in Court on 149 counts of alleged fraudulent award of contracts and stealing of public funds estimated at N15 billion, as its National Chairman,” is proof that the APC cannot fight corruption.
It further described the APC national convention at the weekend as a “celebration of illegality, corruption and arrogance in failure”.
The statement said in part, “It is clear that with the combination of the corrupt, deceitful and rudderless (Muhammadu) Buhari-led APC government and the illegitimate Abdullahi Adamu-led party leadership, corruption, economic hardship and rudderlessness in the APC government will worsen in our country in the remaining one year of the APC administration.
“The composition of the APC national leadership is a clear confirmation that President Buhari has never been committed to the fight against corruption as well as his willingness to further open our national vaults to ravenous treasury looters in the APC.
“Moreover, it was appalling to see APC leaders come out one after the other at their national jamboree to spew out lies and false performance claims on the economy, infrastructure and security even in the face of biting economic hardship, high cost of living, excruciating fuel emergency, lingering crisis in the education sector and escalated insecurity that was happening real-time and simultaneously when the ridiculous claims of achievement were being made.
“Is it not shameful that while APC leaders were lying on stage in Abuja, terrorists were busy attacking the Kaduna International Airport, located in an APC controlled state?”
The PDP called on Adamu to “inform Nigerians why he was not courageous enough to submit himself to trial at the Federal High Court, Lafia, Nasarawa State rather than hide under technicalities”
“Senator Adamu should therefore come clean to Nigerians on the said case before parading himself as a saint,” it added.
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BREAKING: Rivers Governor, Wike Declares For Presidency, Lambasts Fellow PDP Aspirants, Atiku, Saraki, Others
Rivers Governor Wike
The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike has claimed that he has the capacity to unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress from power in 2023. Wike said he can clinch the number one position on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Rivers Governor Wike
He made the statement during a consultative meeting with stakeholders of the Benue chapter of the PDP at the Government House in Makurdi on Sunday. He further called for support from Benue PDP members to vote for him in the coming national delegates convention of the party. “To remove APC from power, I’m the person who can tell them enough is enough. We must take this power and I’m ready to take it for PDP. God is with us that’s why APC keeps failing every day. “I’m declaring it (presidential ambition) for the first time in Benue. I’m going to run for election,” Wike said. He warned stakeholders not to sell their votes, but give them to him, adding that some of the PDP presidential aspirants were only after power for personal gains.Wike also took a swipe at the likes of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Senate President Bukola Saraki, who left the PDP ahead of the 2015 presidential election to join the APC.Both Atiku and Saraki have since returned to the PDP and have declared their intentions to run for President on the platform of the party in 2023.Wike accused them of being the reason why the party lost the election in 2015, noting that those founding fathers who ran away from the party and now want to be recognised have lost their shares. He said, “By the time you ran away, you sold your share as a founding father so you can no longer retain your position of founding fathers. “I stood for this party. I have worked for this party since 1998. I have nowhere to run to and that’s why anything that happens to this party I take it personally. I have never relented. “In 2015, those who ran away made us lose the election. Today, they are crying but some of us stood and said PDP will not die. “Some people want to use Nigeria to buy back their personal business. They talk about the private sector – let them mention the private business that had survived. “Is it banks that your father had? Everybody is an employer of labour; even in my house, I have 50 people who feed from me. They should stop deceiving us. “I have performed as a governor and can carry my shoulders high anywhere. I have the capacity to face this evil government, give me the mandate. “I will speak the truth to power and nothing but the truth. I have the capacity to move this country forward.”
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E2%80%99s-justice-minister-malami-manipulated-federal-high-court-issue-conflicting How Nigeria’s Justice Minister, Malami Manipulated Federal High Court To Issue Conflicting Orders On Section 84(12) Of Amended Electoral Act — Falana
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has alleged that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami manipulated the judgement of the Federal High Court in Umahia, Abia State with regards to deletion of section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act 2022. SaharaReporters had earlier reported that the AGF alongside some principal officers such as Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, worked behind the scenes to obtain an order by the Federal High Court Umuahia that would keep them in office even if they contest for political offices.
The controversial section 84(12) of the Electoral Act reads: “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.” For instance, with the provisions of the act, political appointees such as Amaechi, Minister of Transportation; Malami, Minister of Justice; Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment; Emeka Nwajiuba, Minister of State for Education; Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs; Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, among others who have been reportedly linked to presidential and governorship ambitions must resign from their various offices if they want to contest in 2023. However, Malami and the others cunningly sought the deletion of the provision from the constitution in their own favour. Also, President Muhammadu Buhari had, after signing the bill into the law, written the National Assembly requesting that the provision be expunged from the Electoral Act. But the opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party had on March 2, 2022, filed an ex-parte motion against the Nigerian government at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to stop attempts to tamper with the Act. The PDP also prayed the court for an order of interim injunction restraining Buhari and other defendants from refusing to implement the duly signed Electoral Act or in any manner withholding the Electoral Act from being put to use, including the provisions of Section 84 (12) of the said Act pending the resolution of the suit. This was granted on March 7 by the presiding judge, Inyang Ekwo. Meanwhile, two other suits were filed both in Ibadan, Oyo State and Umahia, Abia State by one Oyewole Bolanle and Nduka Edede respectively compelling the AGF to delete the provision. On March 19, the Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia ordered the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to immediately delete Section 84 (12) of the Amended New Electoral Act. The court in a judgment delivered by Justice Evelyn Anyadike held that the section was unconstitutional, invalid, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever and cannot stand as it violates the clear provisions of the Constitution. While Malami failed to react to the March 7 orders, the Umuahia judgment was recognised as the AGF’s office gave the federal government’s position through the Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Umar Jibrilu Gwandu. Gwandu said the minister would accordingly give effect to the court judgment in line with the dictates of the law and the spirit of the judgment. “The office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice will accordingly give effect to the Court judgment in line with the dictates of the law and the spirit of the judgment. “The judgment of the Court will be recognized by the Government printers in printing the Electoral Act. The Act will be gazetted factoring the effect of the judgment into consideration and deleting the constitutionally offensive provision accordingly. “The provision of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022 is not part of our law and will be so treated accordingly. This is in line with the dictates of chapter 7, Part 4, Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) on enforcement of decisions that make it a point of duty and obligation on all authorities and persons to have the judgment of the Federal High Court, among others, to be enforced,” the AGF office said. But in a statement on Sunday, Falana pointed out flaws, noting that the two cases filed by both Bolanle and Edede were similar despite being filed in different courts and locations — confirming SaharaReporters’ story that Malami and others were able to find a judge to do their bidding. Also, Falana noted that Malami, being the defendant in both cases failed to draw the attention of both Ibadan and Umuahia Judicial Divisions of the Federal High Court to the fact that the Abuja Judicial Division of the same Court already gave a verdict with regards to deletion of the section prior to the Umahia court. Falana further noted that Malami failed to inform the Umuahia court that the Ibadan Judicial Division of the court had struck out a similar case for want of locus standi. He, however, warned that if the Attorney General goes ahead to delete section 84(12) of the Electoral Act, he (Malami) would be liable to be committed for contempt ex facie curiae as the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court has restrained him and other defendants “from enforcing the provisions of the said Electoral Act, 2022 including the provisions of Section 84(12) of the said Act pending the determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.” This is even as the Senior Advocate noted that Malami cannot delete section 84(12) of the Electoral Act unless the valid and subsisting order of the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court is set aside, either by the trial Judge or an Appellate Court. Falana submitted, “From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that even though the two lawyers who represented the Plaintiffs in Suit Nos FHC/ IB/CS/32/2022: CHIEF OYEWOLE BOLANLE v ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION and FHC/UM/CS/26/2002: CHIEF NDUKA EDEDE V ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION are based in Ibadan, Oyo State and Umuahia, Abia State, the two cases filed by them were similar in every material particular. “Hence, the two questions formulated for determination and the four similar reliefs sought by their clients in the two cases filed at the Ibadan and Umuahia judicial divisions of the Federal High Court are in pari material. “Even though the Plaintiffs are different the Attorney-General of the Federation is the sole defendant in both cases. It is doubtful if the similarities in the two cases can be said to be mere coincidence. “However, the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Defendant in both cases did not draw the attention of both Ibadan and Umuahia Judicial Divisions of the Federal High Court to the fact that the Abuja Judicial Division of the same Court had on March 7, 2022, restrained himself, President Buhari, National Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission from refusing to implement the provisions of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act, 2022. “Neither did the Attorney-General disclose to the Umuahia Judicial Division of the Federal High Court that the Ibadan Judicial Division had struck out a similar case for want of locus standi. “In any case, since the case pending at the Ibadan Judicial Division of the Federal High Court was well reported in the print and electronic media, the Judge sitting in the Umuahia Judicial Division ought to have struck out the fresh case before her as it constituted a gross abuse of court process. “It is pertinent to note that while the Attorney-General of the Federation pretended not to know about the order of interim injunction granted by the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, he has announced the plan of the Federal Government to comply with the judgment delivered in the Umuahia case soon as possible. “However, if the Attorney General goes ahead to delete section 84(12) of the Electoral Act, he would be liable to be committed for contempt ex facie curiae as the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court has restrained him and other defendants from ‘from enforcing the provisions of the said Electoral Act, 2022 including the provisions of Section 84(12) of the said Act pending the determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.’ “We submit, without any fear of contradiction, that unless the valid and subsisting order of the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court is set aside either by the trial Judge or an Appellate Court, the Attorney-General of the Federation cannot delete section 84(12) of the Electoral Act. “It is trite that the Attorney-General cannot choose and pick the orders of the court to obey or disobey. More so, when it is undoubtedly clear that the Attorney-General deliberately set out to manipulate the Federal High Court to issue conflicting orders in a desperate move to annul section 84(12) of the Electoral Act. “No doubt, this is the first time in the entire history of Nigeria that the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation has engaged in forum shopping for favourable orders of the Federal High Court or another Court. It is high time the dangerous manipulation of the Federal High Court was stopped as the nation prepares for the 2023 General Elections.”
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Nigerian Arrested In The Philippines With 9-month-old Baby Sold By Mother To Pay Gambling Debts
A Nigerian man, Ifeanyi Okoro and three other women have been apprehended by the police in The Philippines for being in possession of a baby sold off by its mother to pay her gambling debts. According to a report by The Filipino Times, the mother of the girl had allegedly sold her nine-month-old baby so she could pay her debts incurred during “e-sabong” or online cockfighting.
The Nigerian alongside three Filipino women – Imelda Malibiran, Kristine Joyce Esdrelon and Rosemarie Gutierrez – reportedly bought the baby from her at P45,000 (N500,000 at black market exchange rate). However, having a change of mind, the 22-year-old mother of the baby sought the help of the NBI in getting the child back. A complaint was filed by the country’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after the rescue of the baby girl last Tuesday, March 22, in Calamba City, Laguna. Okoro and Malibiran were arrested by the NBI during the rescue operation. Esdrelon and Gutierrez remain at large. The respondents were charged with kidnapping, child abuse, exploitation/discrimination for other purposes; and trafficking. They were tracked down by the NBI’S Antihuman Trafficking Division (NBIAHTRAD) after which the officers recovered the baby from Ifeanyi Okoro and his girlfriend.
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E2%80%99s-request-orders-buhari%E2%80%99s Alleged Corruption: Court Grants Human Rights Group, HEDA’s Request, Orders Buhari’s Minister To Produce List Of Land Allottees In Nigeria’s Capital City
File photo used to illustrate story.
The Human & Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has secured a judgement against the office of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Plaintiff, HEDA, had by a Motion on Notice dated and filed on February 8, 2021, prayed the court for an Order of Mandamus compelling the Respondent, Minister of FCT, to supply the information requested as contained in its request dated October 7, 2020.
File photo used to illustrate story.
The request was attached to the affidavit in support of its application as Exhibit HEDA 2.
The FCT minister, Muhammed Bello, was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
A statement by HEDA on Sunday said the application which was supported by a 16-paragraph affidavit, deposed to by one Catherine Joseph, had attached to the affidavit, two documents marked Exhibit HEDA 1 and HEDA 2.
HEDA had demanded from the minister the list of those allocated land documents based on public reports indicating some public office holders were beneficiaries of the action.
In further support of the application was the written address of the counsel also dated February 8, 2021, and a statement made pursuant to Order 34 Rule 3 (2) (a) of the Rules of the Court.
“The Court in a ruling dated 1st March 2022, before His Lordship, Honorable Justice Mobolaji O. Olajuwon, with Suit N0. FHC/ABJ/CS/1517/2020, between Incorporated Trustees of HEDA Resource Centre (Plaintiff) and Office of the Honourable Minister, Federal Capital Territory (Respondent) granted the prayers of the Applicant – HEDA.
“This court having found that the application of the Applicant has merit and as the Information Act 2011 under which the application was brought was enacted to make public records and information freely available to any member of the interested public, this Court grants the prayers of the Applicant.
“The Order of this court, compelling the Respondent to supply the information requested for, by the Applicant, in its letter to the Respondent, dated 7th October 2020, is hereby granted. The information is to be made available to the Applicant forthwith,” the Judge ruled.
Reacting, the chairman of HEDA, Olanrewaju Suraju praised the court for upholding the provisions of the law, saying, “Most corporate bodies, especially the public sector would not willingly release Information requested by interested persons, especially those of us from the civil society organisations, for obvious reasons – any government Ministry, Department or Agency that refuses to release Information at their disposal have questions to answer.
“For God’s sake, in FOI Act 2011 is a document that must not be toyed with. It must be obeyed by all and sundry, thus; persons and groups who need them should have unhindered access to them. It’s for the good of the common man.”
“This is what is obtainable in other climes. The law remains supreme above everyone. And we want to asseverate that any conscientious delay by any organisation to deliver requested information is a calculated attempt to frustrate the efforts of the requester, which in most cases amount to delay prosecution and justice, and such delay mechanism would be resisted head-on,” Suraju added.
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E2%80%93-imo-ex-governor 2023: Nigerians Love Me, Tinubu Will Win If He Picks Me As Running Mate – Imo Ex-Governor, Rochas Okorocha Boasts
A former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha has expressed willingness to join the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu in the presidential race as his running mate. Rochas, according to a NAN report said if the possibility of a Bola Tinubu and Rocha’s ticket emerged ahead of the 2023 presidential election, he would clinch it.
He expressed confidence in the possibility of the duo winning the election, stating that he was loved by people because he has sympathy for humanity and shuns tribalism. He stated this while addressing the press at the APC National Convention in Abuja. He said, “Uncle Tinubu and I are most likely to be. I know that at the appropriate time it may be because he is the one pushing up in the South-West and I am in the South-East. “So let us see what happens between us, and if that is it, I will ask him to relax a bit so that we can move this section forward. “The people naturally love me and I think it is because they believe I care, they believe I love and have sympathy for humanity, they believe I am detribalised. “They believe I do not know religion or tribe, Muslim, Christian, Igbo or Hausa, Yoruba, all I see is a human being and that is what makes the difference on my side.”
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E2%80%99s-luhansk-region-plans-hold-referendum-joining-russia Ukraine’s Luhansk Region Plans To Hold Referendum On Joining Russia
Russian-backed separatists in the eastern Ukraine region of Luhansk are set to hold a referendum on joining Russia ‘in the near future’.
This has prompted a severe rebuke from Ukraine which vowed ‘total’ guerrilla warfare to prevent the country from splitting into two.
Ukraine rebel leader Leonid Pasechnik on Sunday said the eastern region of Luhansk is set to hold a referendum on whether to join Russia, Daily Mail reports.
Pasechnik, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, said the referendum could come ‘in the nearest time,’ asking voters whether they support making the region part of Russia. The referendum could mark a precursor to the formal annexation of more Ukrainian territory by Russia, as it did in Crimea after Russia seized the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014. Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to break with Ukraine and join Russia – a vote that most of the world refuses to recognise.
The move prompted Ukraine’s military intelligence chief to accuse Russia of wanting to split Ukraine in two, as happened with North and South Korea.
“In fact, it is an attempt to create North and South Korea in Ukraine,” Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, said in a statement, referring to the division of Korea after World War Two.
“In addition, the season of a total Ukrainian guerrilla safari will soon begin. Then there will be one relevant scenario left for the Russians, how to survive,” he said.
Vladimir Putin last month recognised the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, where pro-Russian separatists began fighting Ukrainian forces in 2014, as ‘independent’.
Putin used the apparent protection of the two eastern Ukrainian regions as a pretext to start their barbaric invasion on Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces repulsed seven Russian attacks in Luhansk and destroyed several tanks and armoured vehicles, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Sunday.
Firefighters respond to a large-scale fire at a warehouse following shelling in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region, Ukraine. Firefighters respond to a large-scale fire at a warehouse following shelling in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region, Ukraine.
After more than four weeks of conflict, Russia has failed to seize any major Ukrainian city and Moscow signalled on Friday it was scaling back its ambitions to focus on securing the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian army for the past eight years. Russia has supported the separatist rebels in Luhansk and the neighbouring Donetsk regions since an insurgency erupted there in 2014 shortly after Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. In talks with Ukraine, Moscow has urged it to acknowledge Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
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How Omisore Arraigned For Murder, Arrested For N1.3Billion Alleged Corruption Became Ruling APC’s National Secretary
Iyiola Omisore, the newly elected national secretary of the All Progressives Congress has once been accused of murdering a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bola Ige.
Ige died on December 23, 2001, following his assassination by yet-to-be-identified killers in his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State. The gruesome murder also led to the sudden death of Atinuke, his wife; and destabilised his family.
Bola Ige’s assassination was believed to have started with an altercation that happened at the palace of Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuwade Okunade during the conferment of chieftaincy title on some individuals. Ige was mobbed by an angry crowd as they stripped him of his necklace, cap and destroyed his glasses.
The group was led by a certain ‘Fryo’, a known political thug loyal and devoted to Omisore. It was an obvious breach of his security and attempt to eliminate him openly. A day after the assault, Omisore granted an abusive interview to Tempo magazine that was published the following week.
In the interview, he said “…Bola Ige came on (the) radio here to insult me and my family. That is his last one. He was beaten yesterday; the people of Ife beat him up and he was crying like a baby as they removed his cap and his glasses.”
A week after the attack on Bola Ige at Ooni’s palace, he was killed in his home in Ibadan. Omisore alongside others were arrested and arraigned before an Oyo State High Court as the suspected killers of the former Attorney General of the Federation but were later released for lack of evidence.
Speaking on the character of Omisore, his then principal, Bisi Akande said, “He crept into my life like a silent malignant cancer. He came in full force. In a few months, I thought I knew him. I regret I did not know him in his true colours”.
“When I nominated him as my running mate, I had banked on him that he would be my successor and that I only needed to groom him properly for the daunting task of governance. As I was mentored by Chief Ige, I thought I had a duty to also mentor Omisore.
“I had planned to spend only one term in office and I believed that, with four years of proper exposure and mentorship, he would be ready. But Omisore was ready right from the start for something less noble. By the time we came to the government, all the pretences were off. I knew I was dealing with a wolf in wolf’s clothing. I was alarmed by his way of spending money,” Akande revealed.
Senator Omisore and some of his political associates including the former Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan, were the main suspects in the case of the dastardly killing of Ige.
He was arrested and prosecuted in Ibadan before the High court which eventually discharged and acquitted him and other suspects.
Also in 2016, Omisore was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for N1.3 billion he allegedly received from the Office of the National Security Adviser.
However, the former Osun deputy governor emerged as the National Secretary of the APC unopposed after Prof. Abideen Olaiya from Oyo State stepped down.
Ife Oyedele and Adebayo Shittu, a former Minister of Communications, had earlier stepped down for Omisore.
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