Nothing But Fact
Portable who was recently released by the police after meeting his bail conditions was seen on his way home in the short video shared on social media.
The singer said he has learnt his lessons and he believes God used the short period of incarceration to hide him away from enemies.
However, his speech was stopped by someone in the vehicle who told him to stop talking as he has only been released on bail.
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has expressed disappointment about the conduct of the just concluded 2023 general election.
According to him, the nation was moving towards a situation, which he says was not planned, but one that happened fortuitously where the existing mould was going to be broken.
ODUDUWA NEWS reports that Soyinka, who said he preferred not to make comments on the electoral process because he was out of the country for a while, noted that the elections were “not exactly the most edifying exercise that we’ve been through.”
The Nobel laureate, who appeared on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Roadmap 2023, said even though he wasn’t in the country, he was not ignorant to what was going on.
While sharing his thoughts about the 2023 general elections and the political actors, the Nobel laureate stated that “On arriving, I came in for World Poetry Day, and immediately, I was bombarded by the most horrendous narratives both pre and after the elections.
“Since then, I’ve also read columns; I’ve seen Nigerian papers for the first time in months and I didn’t like what I read at all.
“My trust has broken down completely and even the minimum restraint that we’ve learnt to expect from seasoned politicians has been jettisoned completely.
“And the signs were there that there would be die-hard opposition to the breaking of that mould,” he said. “Elections should be keenly contested. But I still believe very much in what I call the Fashola Dictum.”
Anti-Tinubu passenger aboard an Abuja-Lagos flight, Mr Obiajulu Uja, has been arraigned before the Zuba Magistrates’ Court, Abuja and remanded in prison custody.
His lawyer, Ejike Ugwu, disclosed this to The Newsmen on Monday.
Uja was on Friday evening carried off a Lagos-Abuja flight, after he started a lone protest, demanding that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, must never be sworn in as president on May 29.
In the viral video that made the rounds on Saturday, it took the efforts of no fewer than six airport security officers to evacuate him after holding up the aircraft for more than an hour, as the 6pm flight had yet to move as of 7pm.
A copy of the charge sheet sighted by our correspondent showed that Uja was charged with “public nuisance, resistance to a lawful arrest, threatening violence and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace contrary to sections 396, 267,188,172 and 144 of the Penal Code Law.”
The lawyer said, “He was arraigned at the Zuba Magistrates’ Court after they deceived us because yesterday he was taken to Muhammadu Buhari Police Hospital, Area 11 Abuja.”
The lawyer, who exclusively spoke to our correspondent in Abuja noted that his client, was admitted at the Muhammadu Buhari Police Hospital, adding that the hospital did not have a psychiatrist doctor and psychologist that to examine him.
He, however, said a doctor was invited from National Hospital, Abuja to examine Uja but the efforts unfortunately was futile.
“While we were there, it was around 3pm they told us that they wanted to arraign him in Zuba Magistrates’ Court.
“We reminded the court that the same police invited the doctor to examine him, and the same police instead of waiting for the doctors to examine him hurriedly charged him to court.
“Even with the test we did, we spent almost N40,000 at the Police clinic, all the tests they conducted we abandoned all of them; they have not prescribed any medicine.
The Amotekun Corps, a southwest security organisation, thwarted a car robbery attempt on the Akure-Ilesa Expressway on Friday and recovered an oil-filled vehicle in the process.
Retired Brig. Gen. Bashir Adewinmbi, commander of the corps in Osun, revealed to newsmen on Saturday in Osogbo that the robbers had been attacking vehicles on the Ileki/Osu axis of the Ilesha-Akure Road for almost an hour.
He said that at at 11.46 p.m., a driver who had escaped the bandits’ ambush called in an Amotekun patrol squad, who then pursued the criminals away.
“The robbers ambushed vehicles and were shooting into the air, forcing drivers to park, abandon their vehicles and run into bushes for safety.
“When the robbers, however, saw that Amotekun patrol team was coming for them, they fled the scene after operating on the road for almost an hour,’’ he said
According to Adewinmbi, after the robbers escaped, a truck that had been abandoned by its driver and was laden with gasoline and fuel was found and brought to the Amotekun office in Osogbo.
He claimed that the owner of the items was contacted and that the driver and his assistant, who had fled into the jungle, were located using the waybills that were discovered in the vehicle that was later retrieved.
According to him, the driver revealed that when they were ambushed, they were travelling from Lagos to Abuja via Lokoja.
Adewinmbi noted that the vehicle and its contents were released to the driver on Saturday in Osogbo in the presence of officers from the incident’s local police station, Ayeso Police Station, in Ilesha.
A magistrate court in Ifo has granted controversial musician, Portable bail.
He was arraigned on a three-count charge bothering on assault and theft of musical equipment.
The police earlier said Portable will face more than six charges bordering on alleged assault in court.
Portable was arrested on Friday after the expiration of the 72-hour ultimatum given to him by the police to turn himself in.
The ‘Zazoo Zeh’ crooner’s saga began last Tuesday after he had resisted arrest by the police in Ogun state.
The singer argued that the arrest was “unwarranted,” adding that he makes his money “legitimately.”
The Ogun State Police Command has arraigned singer Habeeb Okikiola better known as Portable on six counts bordering on assault.
He was arraigned at the Ifo High Court in Ogun State on Monday morning, April 3, 2023.
Recall that the singer was arrested on Friday, March 31, for allegedly assaulting his ex-signee, Manny Monie.
Oyo State 2023 Governorship Election has come and gone. The winner is still basking in the euphoria of victory. The losers, licking their wounds, counting their losses. For political parties in disarray, it appears too early to start mending fences. The candidates who fell at the general election and aspirants who didn’t scale the hurdles of party primaries are already back to the drawing board in preparation for another round of governorship election in 2027. Trust Nigerians! They will soon start condemning politicians for starting the race to 2027 now. They will scold them that ‘a soul who’s not sure of making it to another day is nursing six months ambition’. The politicians would shrug their shoulders and give not a thought to those people who hold that it’s a sin to be ambitious. The politicians are wise to hold that ‘a person with sunken eyes starts to cry from afar’. As long as time is not ripe for world to end, politicians will continue to strategise to gain power.
While political activities are temporarily on hold in Oyo State as the returned Governor-elect Seyi Makinde is pressing up to embark on the second lap of his tenancy in Agodi beginning 29 May, 2023, there is something crucial that needs to be addressed and redressed about one of the governorship candidates in the last election, Senator Teslim Folarin, who flew the flag of APC. What is crucial about Senator Folarin that needs a redress is the baggage of misrepresented reputation holding down his political strength. Many people have held that Senator Teslim Folarin lost the election because of his ‘tainted’ reputation which, according to them, makes him unpopular among the Oyo electorate. However, even if Senator Folarin is no longer interested in vying for Oyo governorship seat again, it is just fair to him, to humanity and to God to clear several misconceptions surrounding his personality. Something happened recently which made it necessary to clear the airs on some of the negative tags on Senator Folarin’s personality. Though there were attempts during the last electioneering to put the records straight about his personality, it needs reemphasising that Senator Folarin does not carry the tainted personality some people ascribed to him.
The other day, precisely last Sunday evening, this writer made a detour to his Pharmacist’s to pick some drugs. It was almost time to break fast and he just wanted to pick the drugs and left for home to break fast. Immediately this writer stepped into the store, the Pharmacist who knows the writer to be an APC member and an addict of political discourses, pointed him out to a young man who was with the Pharmacist in his cubicle. The young man turned out be a supporter of Governor Seyi Makinde and a sworn enemy of Senator Folarin. He was ready to bet with his life that Senator Folarin wasn’t a good person, that he didn’t bring any dividend of democracy to Oyo State in all his twelve years in the Senate, four out of which he was a Senate Leader. The first question I asked the young man, who sounded educated but carried a lot of ignorance in his head, was ‘which senatorial district is Senator Folarin representing?’ The young man could not tell us the senatorial district Senator Folarin is representing and I put it to him that he couldn’t have seen the dividends of senatorial representation facilitated, implemented and sponsored by Senator Folarin since he could not identify the senatorial district the Senator is representing. This writer ended up leaving the Pharmacist’s few minutes after 8pm after having enlightened the young man on some of the misconceptions wrapped around the personality of Senator Folarin.
As it is with the young man at the Pharmacist’s, it is the same story of misrepresented reputation with many Oyo electorate who were too gullible believing all the negative propaganda thrown to smear Senator Folarin’s personality, who were too ignorant to counter the negative narratives, who were too unmindful to seek clarifications and who were too mischievous by spreading the narratives to those with whom they shared sameness of mischievous mind. This writer is bold to assert here that Senator Folarin’s misrepresented reputation contributed in considerable measure to his loss at the governorship poll. Regardless of any argument of internal conspiracy against Senator Folarin within the APC, it is no brainer for listeners and watchers of political events in Oyo State to conclude that Senator Folarin lost largely on account of his allegedly soiled reputation. It wasn’t Governor Makinde that was popular to have recorded almost a landslide victory at the poll. It was the depopularisation of Senator Folarin by his perceived negatives that haunted him at the poll and earned Governor Makinde the popularity that led to his eventual victory. This is not to say that the conspiracy from within and the bitter reactions that arose from the primary election that produced Senator Folarin as the bearer of APC’s guber ticket did not have negative effects on the outcome of the election against Senator Folarin. It is just safe to affirm that despite the conspiring factors of the last minute internal conspiracy and the ‘jagba’ backlash, Senator Folarin didn’t do badly in the election, having polled over two hundred and fifty thousand votes! For this writer, if you conducted a random sampling of how people intended to vote before the election, out of say, ten people, you would likely get eight of them passing derogatory remarks about Senator Folarin that ‘he doesn’t have a good reputation’, that ‘his body doesn’t have meaty flesh of love’, that ‘he’s a killer of Eleweomo’, that ‘he took back a power transformer from Sabo Community because he lost a previous election’, that he didn’t do anything worthwhile for Oyo State in all his political journey’, that ‘he didn’t establish companies for the youths to work in and earn living’ and other petty reasons why Senator Folarin was not fit to govern Oyo State. There’s also a misrepresentation of TKF’s personality by spreading it that he was miserly. Let us address some of the spurious allegations.
The former political aspirants for 2023 election in APC felt embittered at the manner Senator Folarin outsmarted them by getting not only the guber ticket but also the state executives. In protest, some of the aggrieved aspirants across political positions left APC to join another parties while those who didn’t leave stayed behind to destruct the party from inside. They thought Senator Folarin had committed a political harakiri by what they termed ‘jagbaism’ though in actual fact, the aggrieved aspirants also made efforts to get favourable lists of delegates from the party headquarters at Abuja. It’s a point that they all sought to outsmart one another but that one was smarter than the rest.
It’s already been put to rest that Senator Folarin didn’t have a hand in the murder of Lateef Salako Eleweomo as testified by late former Governor Alao Akala and Dr Victor Omololu Olunloyo who were political actors at the time. Yet, Governor Seyi Makinde, emboldened by the gullibility of Oyo people, told an illogic lie that a file indicting Senator Folarin of Eleweomo’s murder was on his table. This is the kind of authority recklessness that nailed the coffin of Senator Folarin’s misrepresented reputation before the people of Oyo State. Seriki Hausawa, Alhaji Ibrahim Zungeru, had debunked that Senator Folarin took away the transformer he donated to Sabo Community because he lost 2015 Governorship Election. It defies logic that Senator Folarin who was the first to gleefully congratulate Senator Abiola Ajimobi for winning 2015 governorship election even when the whole results hadn’t been released would turn round to confiscate a transformer he gladly donated to a community. I guess rumours thrive more in a state like ours where ears that hear and believe in rumours don’t listen to or believe in debunking of the rumours again. Senator Folarin was alleged not to have done anything to benefit his senatorial district in his twelve years in the Senate even when the footprints of his senatorial representation are conspicuous and ubiquitous in Oyo Central Senatorial District. The display of Senator Folarin’s many senatorial interventions/projects in the state during the recent electioneering could not assuage the ill-feelings that Oyo people had been made to develop against him by misrepresenting his reputation before the public.
Silent philanthropy doesn’t have a place in Nigerian politics, same way disbursement of political benefits isn’t done in secret. Your left hand must see what your right hand doles out in politics. Political benefits to political footsoldiers and the public must be shared in public square with trumpeters of news present to blow the trumpets of political benefits to all nook and cranny. Senator Folarin must have been found wanting in this. He arguably thinks political benefits attract religious rewards. A public office holder may do less but trumpet more to mislead people that he is the next best thing to where he represents after Barack Obama. I know people that are beneficiaries of Senator Folarin’s interventions on jobs, trainings and empowerments. How this didn’t get to public domain is saddening!
As Senator Folarin faces his political future, it is essential to re-present his reputation before the public. He’s allowed his adversaries to tell unpalatable stories about him and they got away with it. It is high time he put the records of his reputation straight. As this writer said earlier in this piece, Senator Folarin didn’t do badly in the recently conducted election, having scored over two fifty thousand votes despite the underhand compromises from some leaders and highly placed members of Oyo APC. This writer could bet that had Senator Folarin enjoyed a half of the goodwill that Governor Makinde enjoyed with Oyo people, the election would have been a close contest, that is, if Senator Folarin didn’t win narrowly. The odds were stacked up to the ceiling against him in the election and if he had considerable goodwill with Oyo people, it could have saved him from the undeserving defeat.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Youth League, Ogun State Coordinate, has called on the national leadership of the party to immediately suspend a former governor of the state and senator-elect for Ogun East senatorial district, Gbenga Daniel, for working against the party in the March 18 Governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state.
The APC Youth League, which equally urged the party leadership to strip Daniel of every privilege of being a member of the ruling, also demanded that the former governor should be compelled to refund the money he got from the APC to prosecute his own election.
These calls were contained in a letter entitled ‘Need to Sanction Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Senator-Elect, Ogun East Senatorial District of Ogun State’, dated March 31st and jointly signed by Fayomi Yunus and Abbas Olanrewaju Ismail, the State Coordinator and State Secretary of the League, respectively.
According to the letter addressed to the National Chairman of the APC, the former governor was found out to have vehemently worked against the interest of the APC during the elections in the state, a situation which almost scuttled chances of victory of the party at the poll.
While further calling on the APC national leadership to decide the appropriate action against Daniel as stipulated by the party constitution with regard to such anti-party tendencies, the APC Youth League with membership across the 236 wards in Ogun, said a discreet investigation revealed that the former governor had several nocturnal meetings ahead of poll with members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, with a surreptitious plans to work against the reelection of Governor Dapo Abiodun.
The investigation, according to the group, further revealed that Daniel collected several millions of naira to work for the emergence of the PDP governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, against the APC and the incumbent governor.
The statement added that “Daniel was tracked and discovered to have led the PDP machinery that
worked for Adebutu in Ogun East with attendant propaganda instruments led by his prominent aides against Governor Abiodun, without any rebuttal from the former governor.”
The League, however, expressed its dismay that the senator-elect “could go so low to have compromised
the sanctity of party loyalty and solidarity, by forming an unholy alliance with the PDP, his supposed former party to stop the reelection Governor Abiodun.”
The letter reads: “The APC Youth League, Ogun State Coordinate with its membership across all the 236
wards of the state considers it a great obligation as a matter of exigency, to address you today as a result of a certain unpalatable situation that played out in the last gubernatorial election in our dear state, Ogun State, as it affects our party and threatens its cohesiveness.
We are particularly disappointed and taken aback by the surreptitious activities of the former Governor of the State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, in the just concluded governorship election, where he vehemently worked against the interest of our party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and almost scuttled our chances of victory.
“It was utterly strange that Otunba Gbenga Daniel, could go that low to have compromised the sanctity of party loyalty and solidarity, by forming an unholy alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party, his supposed former party to stop the reelection of Governor Dapo Abiodun.
We have it on good authority through discreet investigation how Otunba Gbenga Daniel held several nocturnal meetings with leaders of PDP and the Adebutu’s, in the build up to the governorship election, where money in hundreds of millions was given to him to work for the candidate of the PDP, Mr Ladi Adebutu, against the party that gave him a ticket to represent his senatorial district at the Red Chamber of the National Assembly.
“Otunba benga Daniel, was tracked and discovered to have led the PDP machinery that worked for Ladi Adebutu in gun East with attendant propaganda instruments led by Daniel’s prominent aides against our candidate, Prince Dapo Abiodun, without any rebuttal from Daniel himself.
“It is no more news that Otunba Gbenga Daniel, consciously collapsed the remnant of his political structure for Ladi Adebutu and worked against the APC that gave him ticket and also sponsored his election.
“It is now obvious that the original notion behind the defection of Governor Gbenga Daniel into APC in 2021 was to deceptively secure the ticket of our party having realized the PDP was no more popular in his domain and could not win any credible election, then to later serve as a mole to destroy our party to the advantage of his original party, the PDP.
“It is against this backdrop that we call on the national leadership of our great party to demand for immediate suspension of Otunba Gbenga Daniel from our party, the APC, and strip him of every privilege of membership. We also demand that the national leadership should ask Otunba Gbenga Daniel to refund
every kobo he got from the party to prosecute his election and further decide the appropriate action against him as stipulated by our constitution with regard to such anti party tendencies”.
Nollywood Actress Mercy Aigbe has disclosed that she has converted to Islam while revealing her Islamic name at a Ramadan lecture/special prayers hosted by herself and her husband, Kazeem Adeoti, on Saturday.
In the video which emerged on Sunday, she said, “Insha Allah, My new name is Hajia Meenah Mercy Adeoti. Meenah with the H.”
*Terry G, a popular rapper, has issued a strong warning to those who compare him to his junior colleague, Portable.
Portable has become synonymous with controversies since achieving fame. The singer consistently makes headlines for the wrong reasons and encounters legal issues.
Terry G was upset when a Twitter user demanded that those who had compared Portable’s actions to Terry G’s apologise to the rapper.
“Those of you that compared Terry G’s madness to Portable should apologize right now!!!”.
Reacting, Terry G cautioned his fans never to compare him with Portable.
He stated that one should never compare the original to photocopy.
“In this craze business please never you compare original to photocopy because una mind go dey soon” G”, he wrote.
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