Tag: Femi Aribisala

Opinion: The Bogus Case against Omoyele Sowore by Femi Aribisala

25Sep

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Opinion: The Bogus Case against Omoyele Sowore by Femi Aribisala

What we now have is a government overtaken by paranoia. Omoyele Sowore planned a nationwide demonstration against the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. He captioned it “RevolutionNow.” Every right-thinking Nigerian knows Nigeria needs a revolution of sorts. Things cannot just continue the way they have been over the years. However, Omoyele’s so-called revolution was not designed to overthrow the government. It certainly could not have done that. You don’t overthrow a government by gathering a few thousand people in Lagos, Abuja and a handful other cities where you make speeches about what is wrong with Nigeria and the government. At best, his “revolution” was designed to embarrass the government. It was intended to show that the presidential election result, where ...

Opinion: The Courts Must Nullify President Buhari’s Election on Grounds of Perjury by Femi Aribisala.

10Sep

By admin1 Comment

News, Nigeria

Opinion: The Courts Must Nullify President Buhari’s Election on Grounds of Perjury by Femi Aribisala.

In filing his INEC papers for the 2019 presidential election, President Buhari lied under oath. He committed outright perjury. There can be no doubt that we are living today in Nigeria in proverbially “interesting times.” We have just gone through the worst presidential election in the history of Nigeria, marred by massive fraud, vote inflation and deflation, ballot-snatching, riots and voter intimidation and suppression. Atiku Abubakar, one of the main contestants in the election, has painstakingly presented a water-tight case before the presidential elections petition tribunal; indicating that the declaration of President Buhari as the winner of the February 2019 presidential election was a great travesty of justice. The future of the country hangs on a precipice, while we await...

Opinion: Celebrating Democracy Day with Election Rigmarole by Femi Aribisala.

18Jun

By adminNo Comments

News, Nigeria

Opinion: Celebrating Democracy Day with Election Rigmarole by Femi Aribisala.

What we have in Nigeria is government of the government by the government and for the government. The Nigeria of today is stranger than fiction. The government has just legally declared June 12 “Democracy Day” and proclaimed that, henceforth, it will be a public holiday when we will celebrate Nigeria’s hard-won democracy. Except that this celebration of democracy is at the instance of an undemocratic government that has done a lot in the past few months to destroy democracy in Nigeria. June 12 is in remembrance of that day in 1993, when one of Nigeria’s freest elections was maliciously annulled because the powers-that-be did not like the result. President Buhari is now trying to make political capital out of the matter by proclaiming government remorse over that act of brazen ille...

Opinion: How the 2019 Presidential Election in Nigeria was Massively Rigged – Femi Aribisala.

5Mar

By admin5 Comments

Corruption, News, Nigeria

Opinion: How the 2019 Presidential Election in Nigeria was Massively Rigged – Femi Aribisala.

“You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). In the 2015 presidential election, Muhammadu Buhari of the APC was awarded 15,424,921 votes by Attahiru Jega’s INEC; while Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP was awarded 12,853,162 votes. In that election, Buhari presided like a colossus over the North, which was stoked up to insist on a Northern presidency. Bola Tinubu presided over the South-west, in coalition with Buhari; while President Goodluck Jonathan prevailed in the South-south as its native-son. Suppression of South-eastern votes However, the South-eastern states were regarded as orphans, they had no real godfather. As a result, APC succeeded essentially through INEC suppression of the votes of the South-east; and the exaggeration of the votes of the North;...

Opinion: Chris Ngige Fights for Oppressive Multinational ExxonMobil Instead of Oppressed Nigerians Workers Femi Aribisala.

4Sep

By adminNo Comments

Economy, Justice, News, Nigeria

Opinion: Chris Ngige Fights for Oppressive Multinational ExxonMobil Instead of Oppressed Nigerians Workers Femi Aribisala.

The message Chris Ngige delivered to ExxonMobil loud and clear is that it does not have to be subject to Nigerian laws. It can operate here in Nigeria as a law unto itself. Last week, I complained that 860 Nigerian workers at ExxonMobil (Nigeria) are being treated like orphans in Nigeria; their home-country. They have fought this injustice with fortitude and resilience in the courts for 18 long years, during which 171 of them have died along the way (one more since last week). In court, ExxonMobil denied that the workers are its employees. It claimed instead that they are “SPY Police” in the attempt to circumvent its lawful commitments to them. The Nigerian workers, on the other hand, maintained they are directly employed by ExxonMobil and, therefore, should be treated as ExxonMobil ...

Opinion: How Jonathan Fought Corruption more Effectively than Buhari Has Ever Done – Aribisala

23Aug

By adminNo Comments

Corruption, News, Nigeria

Opinion: How Jonathan Fought Corruption more Effectively than Buhari Has Ever Done – Aribisala

It is necessary to remind Nigerians that the biggest institutional attacks on corruption in Nigeria came under the PDP. EFCC, ICPC and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) were all created by the PDP. Building institutions is always far better than propaganda. Goodluck Jonathan addressed the issue of corruption in this manner. He attempted to remove the big institutional corruption represented by the petroleum subsidy. But this was rejected by Nigerians at the instance of Tinubu and Buhari. As a matter of fact, Buhari maintained there was no petroleum subsidy. To quote him, he asked: “Who is subsidizing who?” Jonathan sanitised the banking system. With the introduction of the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMS), physical movement of cash in the maki...

Opinion: Comparison Between Obasanjo, Jonathan and Buhari Shows Buhari is not Fighting Corruption – Femi Aribisala

23Aug

By adminNo Comments

Corruption, News, Nigeria

Opinion: Comparison Between Obasanjo, Jonathan and Buhari Shows Buhari is not Fighting Corruption – Femi Aribisala

Record has it that President Obasanjo sacked his IGP Tafa Balogun for corruption. He sacked the then Senate President Adolfus Wabara for corruption. He also sacked his own ministers, Fabian Osuji, S.M Afolabi, Hussein Akwanga, Tim Menakaya, etc for corruption. He also sacked Mrs Mobolaji Osomo for administrative infraction. The same way late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua sacked Mrs Adenike Grange as Minister of Health for administrative infraction. It is on record that President Jonathan also sacked Stella Odua for corruption. Stella Odua was one of the most powerful ministers in President Jonathan's administration. But when she erred, President Jonathan sacked her. President Jonathan also sacked Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina as the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reform ...

Opinion: The Revolution Is Already Here – Femi Aribisala.

7Aug

By adminNo Comments

Corruption, Justice, News, Nigeria

Opinion: The Revolution Is Already Here – Femi Aribisala.

Those were the days when peace of mind could be bought with hypocritical acts of philanthropy. But that just won’t do any more. It is karma time. Many years ago, as a member of the Nigerian delegation to the Nonaligned Conference, I engaged a Nigerian vice-president in discussion on Nigerian politics. I cannot recall now the exact subject-matter, but I remember saying at some juncture: “Nigerians won’t stand for that, Sir.” The vice-president became visibly irritated: “What are they going to do?” he asked pointedly. “What can they do about it?” Powerless Nigerians What indeed can Nigerians do about the policies of our government? The official answer is: “absolutely nothing!” Nigerians are deemed powerless and are held with obvious contempt by our leaders. We never seem inclined to...