News
Muslim-Muslim Ticket: CAN cracks over Tinubu’s campaign list
Cracks in the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) were visible last week in the ranks of the religious organisation.
It had to do with CAN’s position on overt partisanship and the same-faith presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
But the leadership of the apex Christian body rose to the occasion with a sense of urgency to mend the cracks and de-escalate the situation which threatened to tear the house apart.
It commenced an investigation into the real motive behind a leaked ‘revised list’ of the Tinubu/Shettima 2023 Presidential Campaign Council, which featured the names of at least eight senior officers and members of CAN.
Among them are the Assistant General Secretary of CAN, Apostle Biodun Sanyaolu, who was recruited as Deputy Coordinator, Stakeholder Relations; Lagos State CAN Chairman, Bishop Stephen Adegbite (member); National Director, Legal and Public Affairs Directorate of CAN, Barr. Comfort Chigbue (member); and Mr Testimony Onifade, former Personal Assistant to immediate past CAN President, Rev Samson Ayokunle (member).
Others are Dr Victor Ivoke, Personal Assistant to Archbishop Daniel Okoh, current President of CAN (member); CAN’s former Director of Legal and Public Affairs, Kwamkur Samuel (member) and Prof. Para-Mallam (member).
Okoh distanced himself from the purported APC Presidential Campaign Council list; describing the appearance of the names of his officials and aide as a worrisome development because it countered the well-known stance of CAN on partisanship.
He said, “I want to categorically exonerate my humble self from this development and any of such that may occur in the future.
“I want to use this medium to assure all Christians in Nigeria and the general public that since I received the news, I have commenced full investigation into how the officials got involved in overt partisanship.
“At the end of the probe, CAN will take fair, but decisive and appropriate action with a view to defending the ideals of the umbrella Christian body I lead by the grace of the Almighty God.
“On a final note, I urge the general public to be calm while we collectively work to entrench a culture of inclusion and respect for our religious diversities in our political leadership.”
Following the outrage that greeted the purported APC campaign council list, many of the CAN members whose name had featured in it denounced their inclusion.
While Ivoke, who is in far away Rome observing the Holy Pilgrimage, had written a letter titled, ‘Re: Inclusion in APC Presidential Campaign Council List’ and ready for dispatch on his behalf to Governor Simon Lalong (Director-General of the APC campaign council), wherein he (Ivoke) stated that he was not a member of the party and therefore ought not to have been listed, Rev. Dr. Gideon Para-Mallam, explained that neither he nor his wife, Prof. Funmi Para-Mallam, was aware of their nomination as members of the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu campaign team as their consent was not sought.
Leak
But investigation revealed that the purported list that had the names of the eight CAN members was fake and concocted, and its leak to the press was a hatchet job to ridicule the leadership and image of CAN.
A copy of the 33-page authentic list of the Tinubu/Shettima 2023 Presidential Campaign Council signed by the APC National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, and obtained by Sunday Vanguard, had only the name of Sanyaolu, Assistant General Secretary of CAN.
Sanyaolu, however, owned up to his inclusion in the campaign council while publicly accepting the offer to work for the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s emergence as Nigeria’s next President despite the public stance of the Christian body against partisanship and the same-faith ticket.
He, however, explained that his decision was personal and had nothing to do with CAN.
According to him, he had been a card-carrying member of the APC since 2020, and had also contested for the Ogun Central senatorial ticket in the party’s primaries in May this year.
Sanyaolu urged the public to place a distinction between his personal life and position in CAN; stressing that he had been active in partisan politics in the past three decades and had served as a Commissioner in Ogun State government between 2003 and 2007.
He said, “It is pertinent for me to state that as a member of CAN and an Apostle of the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim & Seraphim (ESOCS) Church, I have been in partisan politics for over three (3) decades.
“I have been involved in politics from the grassroots to state and national level. In the course of my political sojourn I have had cause to be a member of several political parties and lately, the All Progressives Congress (APC). My participation in partisan politics is largely known to the Church, members of the congregation and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
“On the return of democracy, I served in the cabinet of Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Governor of Ogun State as Commissioner between 2003 and 2007. I was later appointed as the Chairman of the Ogun State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board based on my publicly known religious postures and involvements.”
While stating that he has had a successful career as a chartered accountant and a successful commercial farmer in Ogun State since 1980s, he dismissed the allegation that he accepted to be part of the APC campaign council for pecuniary gains.
He also offered to resign his position in CAN rather than be a reason for the public ridicule of Christ Jesus and the umbrella Christian organisation.
Mischief makers
However, with the benefit of hindsight, this is not the first time mischief makers had attempted to create an impression of CAN being a divided house of hypocrites, selfish leaders and men who are concerned after their bellies only.
The first attempt to create the false impression of inherent disharmony in CAN was when suspected hirelings who masqueraded as ‘Bishops’ were recruited to grace the unveiling of Senator Kashima Shettima as the APC vice presidential candidate in July.
Another embarrassing scenario happened, last Sunday, when the Lagos State CAN Chairman and outgoing Director of National Issues and Social Welfare, Bishop Stephen Adegbite, was quoted to have said “God will punish us, if we fail to vote for Tinubu in 2023.”
Though Adegbite came out publicly to deny it and claimed he was misquoted by some section of the media, the impression that a political party is making inroads into CAN to divide its ranks and break its will to fight for inclusivity and respect for religious diversity in the highest level of political leadership in the country in 2023 has been highlighted.
According to a source in the national leadership of CAN, officials and members of the body are at liberty to play party politics, but it is not a leeway for political freeloaders and hangers-on to seek to penetrate CAN, interfere in its resolutions and pollute its ideals. On his part, the General Secretary of CAN, Joseph Daramola, said CAN, as an entity, will remain non-partisan, but passionately committed to the safety and wellbeing of Nigerians.
“Whereas, CAN is not a partisan organization and does not involve itself with the process of partisan politics, it has a responsibility to defend the religious freedom of Nigerian citizens, whether Christians or not,” he said. (Vanguard)
Supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, were reportedly attacked during a campaign activity in Warri, Delta State. HireGrant Writers
The incident was disclosed by Esther Umoh, a photographer associated with Obi, in a post on X.
Umoh alleged that politically sponsored thugs attacked members of the campaign team while they were campaigning in Warri.
According to her, those affected included members of the entourage of the Delta State governorship candidate, as well as supporters of the Obidient and Kwankwasiya movements.
“As of this morning, politically sponsored thugs reportedly opened fire on @MamaPee__, @Drmopaul, @dchrisiyovwaye, the Delta State governorship candidate, members of his entourage, and other Obidient and Kwankwasiya supporters who were out campaigning in Warri,” she wrote.
A video shared alongside the allegation showed people running amid a chaotic scene.
A voice in the video was heard saying, “Look at the thŭgs, they came to attack us. We must face them. We are fully ready for them.”
The reported attack comes as supporters of Obi and Kwankwaso continue their mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Obi and Kwankwaso are being mobilised under the NDC platform, with members of the Obidient and Kwankwasiyya movements also involved in the wider support structure.
The Obi-Kwankwaso support movement recently announced a 59-member presidential campaign council made up of coordinators and directors from across the country.
The 30-year-old aluminium fixer and student of a polytechnic in Kwara State had spent days in police detention and prison custody following a dispute that began with an alleged N8,000 debt.
His parents had stood as sureties to perfect his bail.
He was finally home and free.
But his mother, Simiat Mohammed, said the son who returned to the family was not the same man who had left days earlier.
He barely ate. He withdrew from people. Again and again, she said, Al-Amin complained about the humiliation of being detained, taken to court and remanded in prison over an allegation he insisted was untrue.
“He kept saying that they wanted to tarnish his image because he came from a poor family and that he was sent to prison for a crime he did not commit,” the grieving mother told Saturday PUNCH amid tears.
Three days after his release, tragedy struck.
On September 17, Al-Amin ingested rat poison at his residence in Ibadan.
Before then, according to his family, he recorded a voice note expressing frustration and saying what would become his final words to his mother.
“He said the frustration was too much and asked his siblings to take care of me. He mentioned my name and apologised, telling me not to be angry with him,” Simiat recalled.
The family rushed him from one hospital to another in a desperate attempt to save his life.
His father, Habeeb Mohammed, said three hospitals rejected him before the family eventually got to the University College Hospital, Ibadan.
“We were asked to make some payments before he could be attended to. After we paid, the doctor came and told us that he was dead,” he said.
For the Mohammed family, the death brought a devastating end to a chain of events that they say should never have gone beyond a minor disagreement.
How N8,000 debt became police case
According to Simiat, her son had borrowed N23,000 from a Point-of-Sale operator identified simply as Kazeem.
Al-Amin had repaid N15,000, leaving a balance of N8,000.
But a disagreement subsequently broke out, during which Kazeem allegedly seized Al-Amin’s mobile phone over the unpaid balance.
The 30-year-old later returned to retrieve his phone, leading to a struggle.
His mother said the confrontation was minor, but it set off events that eventually took her son through vigilante detention, a police cell, a courtroom and prison custody.
After the altercation, Al-Amin was allegedly detained overnight by a vigilante said to be the father of one of Kazeem’s employees.
The following day, September 9, he was allegedly handed over to officers at the Sanyo Divisional Police Station in Ibadan.
Simiat said she received a call the next day asking her to come to the station.
Like many mothers visiting a detained child, she went there carrying food.
“When I got to the station, I went with food for my son, but they did not allow me to give it to him. After some time, they brought him out of the cell and I spoke with him,” she said.
During that brief encounter, Al-Amin maintained his innocence over another allegation that had entered the dispute that he damaged a mobile phone belonging to Kazeem.
“He told me that he did not touch the phone, let alone spoil it. He said the only money he owed Kazeem was N8,000 and that he went to retrieve his phone after it had been seized, which led to the struggle,” she added.
‘They said they would jail him’
What Simiat expected would be resolved as a dispute between two young men allegedly took a more serious turn.
She claimed that the Investigating Police Officer, identified as Adekeye, insisted that Al-Amin would be prosecuted despite the family’s appeals for a settlement.
According to her, the family was asked to provide N100,000 for bail and another N70,000 for the damaged phone.
“When Kazeem came to the station, I pleaded with him that we should settle the matter. I also pleaded with the DCO, but he later sent me out of his office.
“The IPO, Adekeye, also said she would ensure that my son was jailed. There was even a police officer pleading on our behalf,” she alleged.
The deceased’s father, Habeeb, gave a similar account.
He alleged that the matter was escalated because the complainant’s father was known to the Divisional Crime Officer.
“When I got there, I begged the DCO that the matter could be settled amicably. But because the father of the complainant was his friend, he said he would deal with my son and send him to prison,” he stated.
The family further alleged that Al-Amin complained of harsh treatment while in detention and said he was pressured to admit that he damaged the phone.
Saturday PUNCH could not independently verify those allegations.
From police cell to prison
On September 10, the family said Al-Amin was taken to court in the Mapo area of Ibadan.
His mother claimed nobody informed the family beforehand.
They only learnt that he had been taken to court after receiving a telephone call.
At the court, the family encountered a lawyer identified as Boluwatife, who, according to Simiat, offered to represent Al-Amin free of charge after hearing about the case.
The court granted him bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.
But freedom did not come immediately.
Pending the perfection of his bail conditions, Al-Amin was taken to the Agodi Custodial Centre.
For four days, his parents worked to secure his release.
Eventually, Simiat and Habeeb stood as sureties, and their son walked out of custody on September 14.
Police deny charging Oyo student over ₦8,000
Meanwhile, Oyo State Police Command has disputed the account surrounding the arrest and prosecution of a student, Al-Amin Mohammed, who later died by suicide, saying he was not arrested or charged to court over an outstanding ₦8,000 debt.
The Command said Mohammed was charged with assault and malicious damage after allegedly assaulting a female Point-of-Sale operator and damaging her Airtel SIM registration machine valued at ₦177,000.
The police position differs from the account given by Mohammed’s family, which said he was arrested and taken to court following a dispute over an ₦8,000 debt owed to the POS operator.
In a statement on Saturday, the Command described a publication alleging that Mohammed was detained over the debt as “false, unfounded and misleading.”
“The Command wishes to categorically state that the narrative is false, unfounded and misleading, as it does not represent the circumstances of the case or the basis upon which the suspect was charged to court,” the statement said.
According to the police, investigation established that Mohammed approached the POS operator to collect ₦23,000 in cash, with the intention of transferring the same amount to her through a POS transaction.
“The complainant obliged and handed the suspect the said sum in cash. However, immediately after collecting the money, the suspect left the scene without effecting the intended transfer or returning the money.
“Following persistent efforts, the suspect eventually refunded ₦15,000, leaving an outstanding balance of ₦8,000, which he subsequently refused to pay. Consequently, the complainant took possession of the suspect’s mobile phone pending the refund of the outstanding ₦8,000,” the Command said. (PUNCH)
Officers of the Kogi police command have arrested Elijah Olorunsuwa, a lecturer with the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), over allegations of cybercrime in connection with WhatsApp messages on a road project in the state.
Olorunsuwa, a social commentator, was arrested on Wednesday at his residence in Ilorin, Kwara state capital, and taken to Kogi state.
He was later released on Wednesday evening and asked to return on Thursday.
Speaking with TheCable after his release, Olorunsuwa said around 5am on Wednesday, about eight police officers arrived at his residence in Ilorin to arrest him.
Olorunsuwa said he requested that the police officers should allow him to drive his own car and follow them to the nearest area command in Ilorin.
The lecturer said when they arrived at the area command in Ilorin, there were no police officers to attend to them. Afterwards, he decided to join the police officers in their van as they agreed to take him to the Kwara police command headquarters.
According to Olorunsuwa, the police officers reneged on the agreement and drove him to Kogi.
When the lecturer got to the police station in Kogi, he was shown a petition reportedly written against him by Jerry Omodara, security adviser to the Kogi state government.
THE PETITION
In the petition dated September 11 and addressed to the Kogi police commissioner, Omodara alleged that Olorunsuwa has “consistently made false allegation and publications” against the Kogi government using social media.
The security adviser said the lecturer’s recent social media post against the Kogi government was on the award of the Kabba-Oke-Offin-Olle-lluke road project.
Omodara said the Kogi government published advertisements in newspapers for the award of the reconstruction of the road.
The security adviser said after the newspaper publications, Olorunsuwa posted on social media that the road “project was not of the state government but World Bank sponsored and the state was to pay a counterpart fund”.
Omodara said Olorunsuwa’s post is “false, malicious and with the intention to deceive unsuspecting public and discredit the government of the day”.
“This does not go down well with the government as well as myself being from that area that have consistently reminded the government on the need to reconstruct the road,” the petition reads.
“It is therefore not acceptable to the government of the State and the people the road is supposed to serve.
“Consequently, Mr. Elijah Olounsuwa is to be apprehended and to be made to tender all documents available to him from or by the World Bank to back his claim, otherwise he is to be charged for cybercrime and prosecuted.”
THE WHATSAPP CONVERSATION
Olorunsuwa told TheCable that someone posted a message on the Oke Offin community WhatsApp group that the state government was reconstructing the Kabba-Oke-Offin-Olle-lluke road.
The lecturer said he commented that the road project is sponsored by the World Bank.
Olorunsuwa said that after his comment, Omodara replied to him and asked that the post should be deleted. He added that the state security adviser threatened that he should expect legal action if the WhatsApp post is not deleted.
The lecturer said he and Omodara hail from Oke Offin in Kabba/Bunu LGA of Kogi state.
“I told him that he should feel free to take me to court. I didn’t pull down the post,” the lecturer said.
“However, some elderly men on the platform reached out to me and appealed for the need to maintain peace and decorum.”
Olorunsuwa said that after the appeal from the elderly men, he deleted his WhatsApp comments and reached out to Omodara via the phone.
The lecturer said during the phone conversation with Omodara, the security adviser told him that Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi, had directed that he should be prosecuted over the post.
Olorunsuwa said he asked the security adviser if the Kogi governor was a member of the community WhatsApp group chat.
He said Omodara asked him to publish a retraction of his WhatsApp posts about the road project, adding that he refused to do so, which led to his arrest.
OMODARA REACTS
Reacting to the development, Omodara said Olorunsuwa published a “false claim” about the funding of the road project via WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
The security adviser told TheCable that he asked the lecturer to retract his post on the WhatsApp group since the road project is being funded by the Kogi state government.
Omodara said Olorunsuwa responded that he should be mourning his late cousin rather than clamouring for the withdrawal of the post.
He added that during a telephone conversation, he informed the lecturer that the road project was solely funded by the state government and not the World Bank, as he claimed.
The security adviser said Olorunsuwa refused to retract the social media post, which prompted the state government to petition the Kogi police commissioner. Cable
-
Uncategorized2 days agoSoludo vs Obi: What the records say about Anambra’s loans
-
Uncategorized2 days ago
Ibaji and the Politics of the Perpetual Road Promise
-
News1 day ago
Soludo frees jailed Akwa Okuko tiwara aki
-
News2 days ago
Fraud tops offences as 134 Nigerians face US deportation
-
Uncategorized1 day ago
Gunmen kill popular politician
-
Health3 days ago
Poisonous Drinks: Ondo Govt confirms 49 deaths, 170 affected as new cases are recorded
-
News1 day ago
Appeal Court upholds NDC registration, overturns Lokoja ruling
-
Uncategorized1 day ago
NSCDC orders probe as 40 illegal miners die in custody
