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Two top cops, one happy couple

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By Tunde Olusunle

Perhaps the highlight of the recent elevation of senior police officers into higher ranks, was the simultaneous promotion of a married couple of the force, to the rank of substantive police commissioner. Kehinde Patrick Longe, and his wife Yetunde, who were both deputy commissioners of police, moved up to the next rank, as contained in a press release from Police Service Commission, (PSC), Monday December 20, 2021.

Instructively, husband and wife were enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), same day, March 3, 1990, as Cadet Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASP). This was upon the successful completion of training at the Police Academy, (POLAC), Wudil, Kano State. The Longes met at the police academy therefore and developed a relationship which has bloomed into a long-subsisting marriage.

Lifted up the ladder of seniority in the police in that same exercise, was the “better half” of another couple, who also met at the same police institution, at the same time as the Longes, and also became husband and wife! In this second instance, the husband was promoted this same time in December 2020. The wife, however, was recognised in the more recent exercise. Availability of positions or vacancies, in the states of origin of officers under consideration, sometimes becomes an issue when moving them upwards at this level. We therefore have a scenario, which has similarly produced a “police commissioner couple,” from  the police academy, whose relationship and marriage has straddled through more than three decades, thus far.

I have a longstanding relationship with the latter couple, which is as intertwined as it is interesting. I first met Tony Adejoh Olofu, August 1985, at the Alvan Ikoku College of Education, (AICE), Owerri, Imo State, which used to be the permanent orientation camp of the National Youth Service Corps, (NYSC), in our time. Olofu from Benue State, studied sociology at the University of Jos, while I came from what is now the old Kwara State, having read English, at the University of Ilorin. Trust young people, there would usually be points of mutual intersections, in the kind of atmosphere provided by the youth corps camp. Our network of friends would broaden to include Dede Mabiaku, a top Afrobeat artist who studied theatre arts at the University of Benin, underwent his NYSC primary assignment in “Charly Boy Studios,” Oguta, Imo State, and Armstrong Idachaba, also a theatre arts graduate from Unijos, until recently, acting Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), among  others.

While Olofu was deployed to the same AICE for his primary assignment, I was posted to Imo State Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri. To this extent, we were both in the state capital, and also in the same Community Development (CD) group. CD groups were constituted by the alphabetical arrangement of the names of NYSC members, which meant that Olofu was in the same group as “Olusunle.” To this extent, we rode in the same truck to the “NYSC Farm” located at Emekuku, on the outskirts of Owerri, every week, for our CD. My accommodation at the time was at Ikenegbu Layout, Owerri, a walking distance from the NYSC state office, so we would typically stroll to my place, upon our return from Emekuku, to have a bite and share the “communion of the bottle.” We exchanged weekend visits between each other, even as I “inducted” Olofu into the culture of watching live football. Till date, he tells our mutual friends that I dragged him to the stadium for the first time ever, those days when “Iwuanyanwu Nationale” shared the spotlight of soccer in the South East, with “Rangers International” of Enugu.

We went our different ways upon the completion of the NYSC in 1986. In the absence of the kind of telecommunications technology we have today, we resorted to exchanging letters, sent through the Nigerian Postal Service, (NIPOST), to keep in touch. And somehow, many of those letters came through, even if they took a little while. I received one such letter from him sometime in mid-1993. By this time, I had been appointed Director of Information and Public Affairs in the administration of the late first civilian governor of Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu. Olofu was serving in one of the police formations in the country. I’m trying to remember some lines from that correspondence now: “… Should you receive this letter, it serves as your formal invitation to my wedding to your sister from Kogi State and I will appreciate your presence and company, please.”

I got into perhaps the largest *agbada* possible on Saturday July 22, 1993 and drove from my base in Lokoja, to Okene for the event. Olofu sighted my grand costume from the high table where he was seated with other dignitaries, as I made my stately entry into the venue of the programme. He promptly directed one of the ushers to guide me to join special guests on the high table. As I exchanged pleasantries with the big people and the couple, I saw in the bride, a face I could remember very well from my alma mater, Unilorin. The mini campus of the institution was so very close knit in our generation, that you would have encountered a broad spectrum of schoolmates in the cafeteria, library, faculty blocks, lecture room zone, *Africa Hall,* the prime event centre of the school, and so on.

The bride was indeed my sister. Rhoda Adetutu Emmanuel, (her maiden name), was an alumnus of Unilorin where she studied political science. She graduated in 1986, a year after my generation of students. She had earlier attended the School of Basic Studies of the Kwara State College of Technology, (SBS), for her advanced level, and was also a year behind our set. Her erstwhile faculty in Unilorin, “Business and Social Sciences,” abbreviated by students as “BSS,” was the most geographically contiguous to our own faculty of Arts, so it was possible to remember the faces of many people from both faculties. Following the August 27, 1991 creation of nine new states by President Ibrahim Babangida, Kogi Central, Mrs Olofu’s zone, and Kogi West, my senatorial zone, had been extracted from the old Kwara State, and joined with what is now Kogi East, taken out of the old Benue State. She was fittingly therefore, my sister.

The newly wed Mrs. Rhoda Adetutu Olofu, carried herself with requisite dignity and self respect in school. Unmistakably pretty, she was a bit reserved and very selective of her friends and associates. Those of us who were outgoing students, “card-carrying” party freaks as it were, who regularly crisscrossed parties and pubs from “Sawmill,” to “Adewole Estate,” to “GRA,” to “Niger Basin,” on the night time streets of Ilorin, knew ourselves. We also knew our female “accomplices,” who were regularly on the “Groove Train,” with us. Mrs Olofu was not one of them. In fact, we had a nickname for students whose daily itinerary in school, was the regimental route of: hostel, to the classroom and then to the library. We called them “triangular students!” She fitted this profile. The more unserious characters, who lived their lives between the Student Union Building (SUB) a one-stop-shop for liquor and culinary indulgence, and party venues in town, equally had their label. We festooned them with the acronym “NFA,” which translated as No Future Ambition!

With the dawn of democratic governance in 1999, I relocated from my old abode in Lagos, to Abuja, having been appointed a presidential aide by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. I had functioned as his media press secretary all through his campaign and he desired my membership of his team. Tony Olofu and I would be conjoined again. He had just returned from a peacekeeping operation under the auspices of the United Nations in Angola. Uncomfortable about the prospects of his family having to move around with him ever so frequently, in the name of routine postings and redeployments by the police, he desired a stable location for them. From his savings from the one-year UN assignment, he put up a modest bungalow in one of the satellite towns around Abuja and moved his family there.

Just like Olofu had anticipated, he got shuffled around fairly much by the NPF, serving as Commander, Mobile Police Squadron 25 (Mopol 25), Azumini, Abia State; Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Garki Division, Abuja, and Area Commander, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Satellite Towns, with his office in Kubwa, among others. He has also been Commander, *Operation Doo Akpo,* a special security outfit in Bayelsa State; Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations (DCP-Ops), Ebonyi State and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Criminal Investigations Department (DCP-CID), Bauchi State. Olofu has similarly been Commissioner of Police, Counter Terrorism Unit, (CP-CTU), at the Force Headquarters, Abuja. He was also Police Director of Operations and Intelligence, National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and Commissioner of Police, Anambra State, respectively.

Rhoda Olofu has been much more stable than her husband, which has enabled her to keep the home properly, in the regular absence of her husband. Except for a brief period during which she served in Keffi, Nasarawa State Police Command, she has traversed various departments at the Force Headquarters, notably serving as Assistant Commissioner of Police in-charge of Establishment, (AC Establishment) and  Deputy Commissioner of  Police, Training, (DCP Training). She has also functioned  as Deputy Commissioner, Research and Planning (DCP R and P), before her recent promotion.

In 2004, my family and the Olofus, visited Yankari Game Reserve, Bauchi State, for a weeklong excursion, as guests of the erstwhile governor of the state, Adamu Muazu. Children of both families have taken up the baton of the relationship between their parents, having been joined together in instances, by the educational institutions they attended. They are best of friends, regularly honouring invites to events organised by one another. From Olofu’s Otukpo home, to his village, Opaha, in Apa local government area of Benue State, I have been a serial guest. In the same way, Olofu has been a regular caller to my hometown, Isanlu in Kogi State and to Ilorin, where my parents live. Our families on both sides, have fully been incorporated into one another, such that I can call and relate very well with Olofu’s siblings, notably Dennis, David and Baba, just the way he nicknamed my brother, Toba Olusunle “Oshiomhole,” for feigning modesty, despite being a very senior government official.

We equally share mutual friendships with the same people in many instances, and relate with each other, as though we were playmates from childhood. Olofu doesn’t need my consent to banter with and “harass” my old friends like Gbenga Ayeni (a professor in Connecticut); Tivlumun Nyitse (chief of staff to the Benue governor), or Femi Ajisafe (a retired director from the federal ministry of transportation). In the same way, I can barge into his long time associates like John Ofotu (in England); Egwurube Obande (a businessman) and Garuba Uloko (formerly of the Nigerian Customs). As different from the vainglorious exhibitionism of many people in the uniformed services, you are not going to find police personnel milling around the abode of the Olofus, who are famous for their simplicity and unassuming carriage.

Mrs. Rhoda Olofu, potentially, joins the growing list of women who have risen to distinguished heights in the police force. Abimbola Ojomo, was the first female Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), appointed by the Obasanjo administration, January 22, 2002. Ivy Uche Okoronkwo is reputed as the very first female officer to head a state command, as one time Commissioner of Police in Ekiti State. She also rose to the position of DIG October 5, 2010. Farida Mzamber Waziri, an AIG and attorney, was the first female to be appointed Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), (a serially male dominated position since the inception of the agency under the Obasanjo administration), in 2008. Aishatu Abubakar, a veterinary doctor, recently became the first woman specialist in the police, to make the AIG cut.

As an alumnus of the “Better By Far” University of Ilorin, Mrs Olofu expands the number and quality of alumni of the institution, who have become top police officers and attained the rank of Commissioner, at the very least. They include Gbenga Adeyanju (who retired at the rank of AIG), Ayo Oguntuase (recently retired as police commissioner), Amaechi Elumelu, Abdulkadir Mohammed, Ayoku Yekini, (mni), Kehinde Longe, Adepoju Ilori, and many others. Erstwhile vice chairman of the Unilorin Alumni Association, FCT Chapter, Sa’adat Ismail, was also elevated Deputy Commissioner of Police, earlier this year.

Tony Olofu was born October 24, 1963, and his wife July 22, 1965. Coincidentally therefore, the wedding anniversary of the couple is the birthday of the wife. I have teased him in the past, that he applied police sense in consenting to having his wedding in 1993, on the day of the week which coincided with his wife’s birthday, because he wanted to escape having to entertain friends so many times, in the year! The Olofu union is blessed with lovely, well raised children.

•Tunde Olusunle, PhD, poet, journalist, scholar and author, is a Member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, (NGE).

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Opinion

Edo 2024: Oshiomhole, Ize-Iyamu ‘show of power’ over APC guber candidates

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By Ehichioya Ezomon

A tell-tale photograph from the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja showed Senator and former Governor Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North), beaming, and hugging the party candidate for the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State, Sen. Monday Okpebholo (APC, Edo Central), for accepting to run with Rep. Dennis Idahosa (APC, Ovia Federal Constituency).
Self-assured Oshiomhole’s elated because he’s somewhat regained his mojo that’s lost over the scheming for the APC flagbearer – which he’d primed for Idahosa, but clinched by Okpebholo through the backing of two-time governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. And he’s certainly losing out again to Ize-Iyamu in the running mate slot until President Bola Tinubu intervened to save him on his Edo State political turf.
But that photograph got X (formerly Twitter) users engaged on March 18, with a tweep pointing to Okpebholo’s awkward facial expression, as APC’s National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, presented Idahosa as Okpebholo’s running mate. “The look on the face of the governorship candidate says it all,” the tweep notes.
To which another replies: “Because Idahosa is not his choice. He’s imposed on him by the triumvirate of President Tinubu, Sen. Oshiomhole and APC Chairman Ganduje. Sen. Okpebholo’s choice is Ogbeide-Ihama of the PDP, backed by APC and PDP bigwigs in Edo South. We wait and see!”
A third poster warns: “False start! Rule n1 (no 1) in Naija politics; don’t ever have as your running mate a man who previously aspired for the same position you are contesting because he will never be loyal to you. When in office, he will scheme to actualise his ambition even if it means undermining your govt.”
  Yet, an ecstatic Oshiomhole wouldn’t allow social media comments to impeach his “success” at delivering Idahosa for the joint ticket of the APC for the September poll. So, he belatedly congratulated Okpebholo for his “well-deserved emergence” as the party flagbearer. His words: 
“Dear Senator Monday Okpebholo. I extend my heartfelt congratulations on your well-deserved emergence as the flag bearer of our esteemed party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the forthcoming Edo State governorship election. Your victory in the closely-contested primaries reflects the belief of our party members in your unwavering dedication and commitment to our party’s core values.
“As we embark on this crucial journey, I urge you to leave behind the intrigues of the primaries and extend a hand of fellowship to all those who contested with you for the ticket, as well as to all stakeholders of our party in the state. Together, we must forge a strong, united front that resonates with the electorate and secures victory in the governorship election on September 21, 2024.
“Your decision to choose Hon. Dennis Idahosa as your running mate, demonstrates great wisdom and foresight. Your joint ticket presents the people of Edo State with the best option to usher in a dynamic, progressive, and responsive government that aligns with the aspirations of our vibrant youth population.
“I am confident in your leadership abilities and believe that, with the support of all APC members across the state, we can restore Edo State to the path of progressive governance, sustainable socio economic growth and political inclusion in all its ramifications.
“Congratulations once again, as I eagerly anticipate our collective efforts towards achieving victory in the upcoming election. Yours in the struggle for the rebirth of a greater Edo State that works for all.”
  As first reported by GWG.NG on March 18, it took Oshiomhole one full month (from February 17 to March 18) to congratulate Okpebholo for securing the APC ticket, defeating Idahosa, who Oshiomhole wanted to railroad in as the candidate for September 21. 
Maybe Oshiomhole wouldn’t have congratulated Okpebholo if he didn’t yield to President Tinubu’s plea to accept Idahosa as his running mate, and shelve his preference for former Rep. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, whom Okpebholo had introduced a few days earlier as his running mate, thus sending Oshiomhole into overdrive, as the “coup” was hatched and executed by the Ize-Iyamu camp of the Edo APC.
The harder part for Oshiomhole, going forward, is to justify the inclusion of Idahosa in the APC ticket. He can achieve that by dropping his hubris of “dominating Edo State politics.” Granted Oshiomhole can influence block votes from his homestead of Edo North, but the primary has discernablly shown that he needs more votes from Edo South and Edo Central, from where Ize-Iyamu and his coalition mustered the votes for Okpebholo’s victory.
Oshiomhole’s Tinubu to thank for interceding on his behalf, as Okpebholo – backed by Ize-Iyamu, who shelved his long governorship ambition “for unity of the party” – would’ve paired Ogbeide-Ihama, who’d the support of most APC aspirants, and chieftains of the PDP in Edo South, and probably the legacy faction of Edo PDP, headed by the Deputy Vice Chairman (South-South) of the party, Chief Dan Orbih.
There’re speculations that the Orbih faction across Edo State would “defect” to APC should the Ogbeide-Ihama gambit materialise. That can still happen if Oshiomhole plays his cards well and give the assurance to “dissatisfied” APC (and PDP) members that he’ll – or has actually – come down from his high horse on account of being a Governor, APC’s National Chairman, and a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 
Oshiomhole got to these positions with the help of party members – he now overlooks – from the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the APC in Edo State. So, he should give these members their due recognition, and a say and a place in the campaign to deliver the APC and its candidates, as President Tinubu promised on March 18. 
Nothing else will suffice, particularly for Oshiomhole, who should strive to avoid a second consecutive defeat from his erstwhile political protégé-turned traducer, Governor Godwin Obaseki, who sponsors PDP’s candidate, Dr Asue Ighodalo, to succeed him in November 2024.
In his remarks at a gathering of party stalwarts during President Tinubu’s presentation of the APC flag to Okpebholo and Idahosa at the State House, Abuja, on March 18, APC’s National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, stressed the unity of purpose within the party toward achieving poll victory, saying, “Our candidate is soft-spoken, focused, and an achiever. He is a product that is highly marketable, and I am confident that with him as our flag bearer, we will bring Edo back to our party.”
Tinubu also sounded upbeat about the APC winning the governorship, and declared: “Distinguished senator and our flag bearer, we are putting you forward in order to hold the party in trust for us and achieve victory for us. You and your running mate have been described as ‘giant killers,’ and you have worked tirelessly with the party leadership.
“We are going to work with you. We are going to stand with you like the wall (Rock) of Gibraltar. That is all I can assure you. The party is supreme but victory is superior and very important.” The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) first reported the story.
As he invited the Edo APC Woman Leader, Lady Betty Okoebor, to speak on the party’s readiness for the election, the president noted the role of women in electoral contest, saying, “If the women say we are going to win, then we are good to go because they constitute the largest number of voters and the most dedicated,” even as he commended the Ganduje-led APC leadership, the Edo chapter of the party, “for their efforts toward the success of the candidates and the party,” and particularly Oshiomhole, “for his exemplary leadership.”
And there lies the problem of the APC in Edo State ahead of the poll. As first reported by The Nation, Tinubu’s flag presentation followed a March 17 prolonged meeting by stakeholders from Edo, the party leadership and Vice President Kashim Shettima. 
This comes on the back of Oshiomhole’s antics to dictate the process and outcome of the primary on February 17 – which stretched into one week (February 17-23) – due to roadblocks he erected, in cahoots with the party leadership, including Ganduje and Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), Sen. Hope Uzodimma.
Pre-primary, Oshiomhole flaunted his closeness to Tinubu, quoting the president as against zoning of the ticket to a particular senatorial district (Edo Central), and countered those – also referencing Tinubu’s “subtle support” for zoning the governorship – to show proof, even as he attempted to shoo-in Idahosa as his “anointed candidate.” But twice, Oshiomhole’s disproved carrying out Tinubu’s “wish, directive or body language.” 
In January, when the National Working Committee (NWC) wished a manageable size of aspirants for the governorship, Oshiomhole, as APC’s leader in Edo, named a “primary election screening committee,” which reduced the number of aspirants from 29 to six. 
The agenda of the “illegal committee” was to enable Oshiomhole rubberstamp Idahosa as his “anointed candidate,” and weed out “formidable aspirants,” such as Ize-Iyamu, who Oshiomhole campaigned against in 2016, as he projected his then godson, Mr Obaseki, but ironically campaigned for in 2020, as he fell out with Obaseki.
Following protests by the 23 or more “disqualified” aspirants, the APC NWC disclaimed the “Oshiomhole committee,” and stated it’s the sole authority to screen the aspirants – 12 of whom it cleared for meeting the primary requirements, and fixed February 17 for a direct primary.
Despite the NWC rebuff, Oshiomhole put into action his “Plan B” to ensure Idahosa’s candidacy. He reportedly procured the services of Sen. Uzodimma, chairman of the APC Edo Governorship Primary Election Committee, who declared Idahosa as winner of the primary even as votes from only eight of the 18 local government areas had been collated, and Okpebholo won handily in six of them. The Chief Returning Officer for the primary, Dr Stanley Ugboajah, eventually declared Okpebholo as the “authentic” winner of the poll. 
As local government returning officers on February 18 also declared Hon. Anamero Dekeri (APC, Etsako Federal Constituency), as the “primary winner,” there’s chaos in the Edo chapter of the APC, and at its Abuja national headquarters, where Ganduje had hurriedly “congratulated” Idahosa on February 17 without waiting for completion of the primary. 
It took Tinubu’s intervention for the NWC to suspend the primary, and fix February 22 for its completion under Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu, who’s initially Uzodimma’s deputy. Sen. Otu finally announced the results on February 23, with Okpebholo returned as the duly elected governorship candidate, beating Idahosa to the second position.
Idahosa rejected the declaration, and vowed legal action should his appeal for remedy fail at the APC appeals committee, which dismissed his petition, and upheld Okpebholo’s plea, with the NWC issuing him a Certificate of Return and President Tinubu presenting him the party flag on March 18. 
But not before Oshiomhole played his last card! He withheld recognising Okpebholo as the APC candidate, and implored (“blackmailed”) Tinubu to enjoin Okpebholo to accept Idahosa as running mate, which the president obliged “to save Oshiomhole from failing the third time to push Idahosa’s candidacy.” This is hoping that Oshiomhole’s learned some lessons in “realpolitik” in Edo State!

Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria

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Murder of 16 soldiers: Ex warlords, others urge Tinubu to act fast

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***Finger Tompolo, others in crisis

As Nigerians continue to grapple with the shock over the murder of some military personnel in Okuama community in Delta state, Ex-Niger Delta Warlords have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quickly take steps to prevent a major crisis brewing in the region.

16 Military personnel including a commanding Officer, two
Majors and one captain with 12 soldiers were murdered
by suspected youths of Okuama community while the soldiers were said to be on a peace mission.

In a statement signed by the Ex- warlords including General Ebi Gold, General Lastborn Ogidi,
General Akpala Odidi, General Freeborn Teacher Owei and
General Sunday Fullpower, the former militants attributed the current unrest in the area to clash of interest amonsgt stakeholders.

The ex – warlord told the side of the story as related by by eye witnesses and residents of the area.

“They said it came as a surprise when after being well received and
entertained, the Military visitors insisted on going with three of the community leaders. The community resisted, reasoning that there was no basis for such and all hell broke loose as the soldiers reportedly opened fire on the community killing several people and injuring so many. Reports say that the soldiers left and returned with reinforcement.

“Other sources say that the soldiers who came were ambushed on the river while returning after the attack on villagers of Okuama, by unknown persons who they said came in about 9 gunboats and the corpses of the Military personnel were recovered in faraway Forcados.

” The genesis of the current crisis was when the former NIMASA DG, Patrick Akpoboloukaimi went to see former Militant leader and now Security consultant to the Federal Government, Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo and on his way back to his village, Okoloba in Delta state, raised an alarm that he saw a speedboat trailing him.

“He was said to have alerted security forces that were with him who purportedly apprehended the said boat containing six persons including the youth leader of Okuama Community; a rival community to Okoloba, who were also heading towards their village and all were killed. This was said to have led to retaliation by the youths of Okuama community who also sought and killed the youth leader of former DG NIMASA’s village, Okoloba.

The ex-warlords warned that the situation might deteriorate into a major crisis if not properly handled.

They called on the Federal Government to also look into the role Tompolo is playing in the entire crisis

“it has been noticed that in the wake of the Delta
crisis still ongoing, he (Tompolo) clearly has extended the war to Bayelsa community Egbomotoru.

“Tompolo’s Tantita security has led attacks and raids with Soldiers into Bayelsa communities under the excuse that General Endurance popularly known as Amagbein, has a hand in the ongoing crisis in
Delta State.

“As it currently stands, over 80 people had been killed, burnt and thrown into the sea to avoid detection and have also initiated a complete media blackout
on the development as at the Morning of 17th March 2024 in Egbomotoru, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

“Reliable sources say that there had been over eight (8) attempts before now, with gunboats, houseboats and Tantita Security and Military men to attack Egbomotoru, Amagbein’s village in a bid to subdue and coerce him as he is
seen as a major threat and a force in the region that is seen to be challenging their stake. Amagbein who is said to have become a repentant bunkerer has reportedly resisted being lured into war with the military in order to avoid
being framed as the aggressor.

“Fallout between Tantita boss, Tompolo and his former ally, Amagbein started when the ex-militant refused to be dragged into working for APC Gubernatorial candidate for Bayelsa state, former Governor Timipre Silva and
his running mate, Joshua Maciver who is also an ex militant and the
coordinator of Tantita Bayelsa.

“Another reason for the attacks on Amagbein is said to be his resistance to the monopolization of the Pipeline Security Surveillance contract by Tantita with
Amagbein insisting that it should be shared amongst the various State leaders.

“For this and other reasons as stated above, Amagbein was reportedly denied his wages to the tune of 1.25b and has been threatened and harassed severely for not succumbing to the pressures”

Citing these instances, the Ex-warlords maintained that there is a political undertone to the incidents in the Niger Delta which they describbed as victimization and intimidation.

“This needs to be thoroughly checked within the next 48 hours and the truth unveiled to avoid total breakdown of law and order”

While sympathizing with the soldiers that lost their lives, they asked the Federal
Government to institute an investigation into the issues surrounding the crisis.

They urge the Federal Government under president Tinubu to quickly
and decisively arrest the situation to avoid a full blown war in the Niger Delta
region.

Speaking on the issue a community leader who pleaded anonymity rather asked some rhetorical questions: “why is Tompolo now the commander in chief of the Niger Delta? Why was his company, Tantita boat the one being used by the military in the place ? Is Okuama now oil producing community? Is there pipeline in Okuama? ”

“Why will Tompolos Tantita be used against the Okuama people? The former DG of Nimasa is from okoloba the opposing community in this crises and one of the closest allies to Tompolo who made him DG Nimasa so during Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure. It’s Tompolo using the military and Tantita to fight the Urhobos ? We all know there is no oil in the community so what’s the role of Tompolo’s Tantita in all this?” He queried.

“What are Tantita boats and foot soldiers fighting for in Okuama by leading the security with so many boats used for the operations. Don’t forget that the Okuama people are fully Urhobos while Tantita is predominantly Ijaw youths”

The Ex warlords also called for a probe into the role of Patrick Akpobolokemi in the entire saga.

Akpobolokemi is a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA).

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Opinion

Budget Padding: Salient Questions Nobody is Asking Ningi, By Ola Awoniyi

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What was the motive of Distinguished Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi for raising a controversy over the 2024 federal budget?

Since the Senate at its Plenary of Tuesday 12th March, 2024 deliberated over the matter and handed a three-month suspension to the Bauchi Senator, there have been countless commentaries in the media on the issue but few of them have considered the pertinent questions that would have helped Nigerians see what Senator Ningi sought to achieve by essentially stirring up a hornests’ nest.

To start with, Ningi is not just a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is a ranking Senator with vast experience in legislative business. Ningi was first elected to the House of Representatives at the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999 and is one of the longest serving federal lawmakers in Nigeria. He was the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007, and Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate for another four years between 2011 and 2015. Those were privileged positions that made him a Principal Officer in both chambers of the National Assembly. That also means that the Bauchi Senator has participated actively in the passage of the federal budgets at the highest level.

With his experience from all those privileged positions in his long tour of duty at the National Assembly, Ningi understands the nitty-gritty of the legislative and Appropriation processes in both Chambers of Parliament.

Also, as a Distinguished Senator, he has unfettered access to all legislative documents. So it should be disturbing when a Senator of that calibre claimed that there were two versions of the 2024 budget and that the budget, which he actively participated in its passage, was padded with projects costed at trillions of Naira and skewed against his own section of the country.

Let’s note at this point that Ningi never said in his hell-raising BBC (Hausa Service) interview or at that Tuesday Plenary or in any of his subsequent media shows that he was denied access to the budget document, whether as proposed by the Executive or as passed by the two Chambers of the National Assembly. He has the entire document, like every other Senator or Member of the House of Representatives.

Are you not wondering then why he didn’t raise his observations when the document was being processed and during the final passage by the two Chambers?

Given his many years in parliament, it is incredible that Senator Ningi said at that Tuesday Plenary that he didn’t know the full details of the budget. Even more so the claims that he was unaware that the National Assembly jerked up the original budget proposals by N1.2 trillion, from N27.5 trillion to N28.7 trillion, and that he had no knowledge of Statutory transfers of N3.32 trillion to Government institutions and agencies on first line charge.

And curiously, Senator Ningi has not stressed in his media campaign the fact that he is a member of the Senate Appropriation Committee, which anchored the processing of the national budget in parliament. So he is familiar with the document, its content and processing more than many other of his colleague Senators.

The 2024 Appropriation Bill was signed into law on 31st December, 2023. But Ningi waited until 7th March, 2024 to rally some members of the Northern Senators’ Forum (NSF) to complain to the President of the Senate, Godswill Obot Akpabio, about the budget. Why did it take an experienced ranking Senator and a member of the Senate Appropriation Committee two months and seven days after passage to realised that something was amiss with the Appropriation Bill, which is often the most important law passed by Parliament? Why did Ningi wait that long after the Bill had been signed into law to hire a consultant (for N30 million) to scrutinise a document that was presented to the National Assembly on 29th November, 2023?

It was commendable that Senator Ningi at least drew the attention of the Senate President to his “discoveries,” however belatedly.

The Senate President asked to see the details of the “discoveries” made by the consultant. A fellow member of the NSF, Distinguished Senator Ali Ndume, said he also asked Ningi for the same information. But rather than availing them with it, Ningi headed to BBC Hausa Service, the day after the meeting with the Senate President, to grant his explosive interview. Why? And why BBC Hausa Service? Was it to play the ethnic card?

The members of the NSF at the meeting with the Senate President agreed on the need to establish the facts before any further step was taken. So why was Senator Ningi impatient to have his claims verified, even by members of his own Forum, and exhaust internal mechanism for correction of any anomaly before escalating it to an international audience?

Senator Ningi has said repeatedly that the “discoveries” are known to him and only him alone. He has exclusive knowledge of the report of the consultant that he hired, most likely in the name of the NSF. No other member of the Forum is privy to the findings of the consultant. Isn’t that awkward?

Why is he keeping the “findings” to himself? Why is he reluctant to share them with even Distinguished Senators in his Forum?

Some of them implored him to apologise at the Plenary after his claims had been established to be fictitious. But rather than heed their advise, Senator Ningi flew from the main issue to unrelated matters like the take home pay of the Senate President and the number of aides the Senate President and other Principal Officers have! Why?

According to the Senate Leader, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, Ningi’s astonishing fiction was merely the opening salvo in a plot for Senate leadership change. As it turned out, that plot failed because the protagonist has no backing of any group in the Upper Chamber, not even of the Forum he chaired before the gambit forced him to step aside from the chair.

***Awoniyi, Media Aide to Senate President, writes from Abuja

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