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Tag: Injustice

  • Mimiko: ‘injustice’ against Jegede won’t stand

    Mimiko: ‘injustice’ against Jegede won’t stand

    Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko said yesterday that the substitution of the name of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Eyitayo Jegede with Jimoh Ibrahim by the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) will not stand.

    Mimiko told reporters in Akure, the state capital, that what happened was a contrived conspiracy which cannot find comfort “in justice, in principle, in law, and in morality”.

    He said redress is being sought by Jegede, PDP and major stakeholders, “because the impunity will not stand”.

    Mimiko observed that the development remained “bizarre in the nation’s politics and particularly in the state’s polity, noting that it is something bizarre, abnormal and without precedent in polity.”

    The governor, however, thanked the people for their maturity and peaceful conduct.

    “You have comported yourselves well. Your peaceful but rugged and persistent resistance in the last three and half weeks would go down in the record of the new Ondo State.”

    He denied that he went to see President Muhammadu Buhari as a prelude to crossing over to another party.

    According to him, he had to see the President on the need to allow justice to prevail.

    “Mr. President gave his word that he would  ensure that justice is done and I have no cause to doubt him,” he said.

  • The courts and injustice to MKO Abiola

    The courts and injustice to MKO Abiola

    justice is the will of the strong and while the strong does what he likes, the weak suffers what he must. This is the most appropriate way to describe the case of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election, under the military. The military, the strong, did what it liked while MKO Abiola and indeed, those who voted for him, the weak, suffered what they must.

    What seems to have escaped the attention of many in the political impasse that followed June 12, 1993 Presidential election is the role of the courts played in the annulment of the election by the then Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, and how the courts were manipulated to deny Abiola justice in the electoral matters before them shortly before and immediately after the annulment.

     

    Abiola, the Aare Ona Kakanfo:

     

    Before the 1993 Presidential election, Nigerians would recall that there was a sensational case, which involved the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, and the immediate past Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade, over the announcement by the Alaafin to install Abiola as the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland. The announcement was given the widest of publicity. A day was fixed for Abiola’s installation. Because Abiola was a popular international business man, guests from all over the world had started arriving for the installation.

    But just two days before the installation, the late Ooni filed an action at an Oyo High Court, claiming that the Alaafin had no right whatsoever to install Abiola as the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland. He (Ooni) coupled it with a motion ex-parte asking the court to restrain the Alaafin from installing Abiola as the Aare Ona Kakanfo.

    In law, an ex-parte motion is one in which one can get an order without the knowledge of the other party. Somehow, Oba Adeyemi got wind of the fact that a motion ex-parte had been filed. Hitherto, I have been Oba Adeyemi’s lawyer in the supremacy tussle between Oba Adeyemi and Oba Sijuade. So, the Alaafin contacted me. I proceeded to the court, filed a formal application to search the court’s file from where I obtained a copy of the paper filed by the Ooni and thereafter filed a counter affidavit. This was a novel one because it has never happened like that before.

    The case came up a day before the installation. It was the case of the year. The court rejected Ooni’s prayers and so Abiola was installed as the Aare Ona Kakanfo the following day with pomp and pageantry.

     

    June 12, 1993 Election:

     

    It is a notorious fact that the June 12, 1993 has been adjudged as the freest, fairest and most credible election in the annals of elections in this country. All the same, it is now a well-known fact that Abiola’s electoral victory did not go down well with the military. This naturally led to many court cases filed on the matter, which ended up at the Court of Appeal in Kaduna.

    It is important to note that two days to the election, Hon. Justice Bassey Ikpeme of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in a rather bizarre manner, had delivered a nocturnal ruling around 9.15 pm to the effect that the election could no longer continue, one of the reasons that emboldened former Military President Ibrahim Babangida to annul the election.

     

    Abiola appealed Justice 

    Ikpeme’s decision:

     

    Before going into the nitty-gritty of the Appeal at the Kaduna Division of the Court of Appeal, it is apposite to note that Justice Ikpeme’s ruling was patently wrong on all fronts, particularly as the enabling law had provided that the Chairman of the National Electoral Commission, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, was the only one empowered by law, to stop the election. This was the beginning of a series of acts of omission or commission, using the courts to manipulate the duplicitous annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election to the consternation of many locally and internationally.

    Abiola had briefed the late Chief Roimi Williams, SAN and my humble self to fight the case for him. Both on points of law and facts available, we were sure to win.

    Immediately the case came up at the Court of Appeal, Kaduna, the then President of the Court of Appeal, the incorruptible Hon. Justice Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi, because of the peculiar circumstances of the matter, did not want anyone to know, who among the Justices of the Appellate Court would sit to hear the Appeal. And so, he empanelled 10 of his best Justices of the Court of Appeal and gave all of them the records, even when it was only five that would sit to hear the Appeal. He simply did not want anybody to interfere in the matter because of the importance and the sensitivity of the matter. Justice Akanbi remains one of the most diligent men of integrity that have ever adorned the Bench in this country. No wonder, he was the first Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).

     

    On hearing date:  

     

    On the day of the trial, Chief Williams was not in court and so, I led a team of 30 lawyers. To me, based on the law and on the facts of the matter, we believed we would win the case for Abiola. We went to court with several relevant authorities (law books). But before the Judge sat, Chief Phillip Umeadi, SAN, representing the Federal Government, came in late. When he saw the formidable team of lawyers I brought to court as well as the volumes of authority that we brought, he asked rather derisively that: “Afe, what are you doing with all these lawyers and volumes of authorities?” I replied that: “But you know that hearing in this case has been fixed for today and we are here to do justice to the matter at hand.”

    But he replied that the case could not go on as there was no lis before the court to which I answered, let us wait and see!

    At the mention of the case, I announced my appearance for Abiola while Umeadi announced his appearance for the Federal Government and told the court that he wanted to make a preliminary objection. The court allowed him and he said: “My Lord, there is no lis before this court because the election had been annulled.”

    In my reply, I summited to the court that such a pronouncement cannot be through oral statement, but that it should be through a Government Gazette. After all, all the Decrees by the Military Government were always gazetted.

    At this point, Umeadi applied for a short adjournment. It is important to note that up to this point in time, there was no Gazette. The court granted his oral application for a short adjournment. When he came back few minutes later, he was armed with a Gazette and so he renewed his application, which he supported with the Gazette which he was flashing with relish. The court had no choice than to admit the gazette in evidence. The court then asked for my opinion now that the Gazette had been tendered.

    I instantly became disturbed when I saw the Gazette because I was alarmed that a Gazette could be procured in a matter of minutes. I had no choice than to admit to the fact that there was no lis before the court. In my reply, with tears in my eyes, I said, rather courageously that “this is the saddest day for the judiciary in this country and the beginning of a journey the end of which no one knows”.

    The over-crowded court dispersed in audible murmurings! What happened that day has continued to hunt us to this day. The court was denied the opportunity of hearing the case. Abiola, his lawyers and his teaming supporters became helpless before the court of law.

    Twenty-three years after I made that statement, we are still on that journey. Today, we have to contend with all manners of contentious issues like the problem of Boko Haram, which has been getting worse with the incursion of herdsmen into the polity and the attendant blood bath they have consistently inflicted on the country as well as the militancy in the South-South part of the country because we allowed ourselves to miss that golden opportunity in 1993.

    At the international level, the price of oil, the only source of our national income, has fallen drastically. Many of the states of the federation have not been able to pay salaries since the beginning of the year . People, as a result of their not being paid by their employers, have resorted to petty larceny, including stealing of pots of Amala and eating it with palm oil! A ludicrous situation indeed!

     

    • Aare Babalola is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and founder of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado-Ekiti

     

  • Military injustice

    It is not only a question of justice, but also a question of honour. Concerning the controversial 2015 terror-war mutineers now sentenced to 10 years in prison after a death-sentence review, Nigeria’s military authorities demonstrated a nauseatingly narrow appreciation of the connection between justice and honour.  Injustice, no matter how well dressed, is dishonourable. Not only was the sentence reduction ironically unjust, it amounted to a badge of dishonour for the military hierarchy.

    Curiously enough, Lagos activist lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) made an effort to clarify the information released by Army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman on December 19 about the number of soldiers whose mutiny-related death sentences were commuted to imprisonment.  Falana said: “Twelve soldiers were convicted in September 2014 and sentenced to death by a court-martial for demanding for weapons when the General Officer Commanding, the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army, visited a military camp in the war zone while 58 others were convicted and sentenced to death in December by another court-martial for demanding for weapons to fight the insurgents. Therefore, the number of soldiers who were sentenced to death by the two court-martials is 70 and not 66.”

    Beyond the confusing detail relating to the number of soldiers involved, more bewildering is the decision by the military authorities to impose a 10-year jail term on the previously condemned men despite exonerating evidence.

    It is as if the military leadership is blinded by denial. The global village now knows for sure that public funds meant for fighting and winning the terror war, running into billions, were rerouted by powerful individuals in the discredited Goodluck Jonathan presidency. The corruption-spiced narrative is still unfolding, with former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki right in the middle of the mess.

    Now, this is what President Muhammadu Buhari said in a recent transcribed interview with the Hausa Service of BBC: “I want people to understand that after I settled down and got a good grasp of what the country is going through, we removed all the service chiefs and appointed new ones. We also undertook an investigation and found out how monies meant for arms procurement were diverted and shared by officials in the last administration.”

    Buhari continued: “They sent the boys to the war front without arms and ammunition, leading some of them to mutiny after which they were arrested and detained. We have been able to raise money and fund the war. Go and ask the people of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa; how many of their local governments were under the control of insurgents? And how many are currently still under the insurgents?”

    A report said: “The mutiny was sparked by the death in a Boko Haram ambush of dozens of fellow soldiers when they were ordered against their will to drive down a dangerous road at night. Hundreds of Nigerian soldiers have deserted, complaining that they are not properly equipped to fight Boko Haram. The Associated Press said several soldiers told its correspondents that they were sent into battle with just 30 bullets and no food rations.”

    The now glaring and undeniable evidence of unprofessionalism by those who were supposed to lead the war on terror, which was a complicating factor, shows that the initial imposition of a death sentence on the mutineers was a case of double standard, inexplicable and inexcusable even in the context of military regimentation. If a death sentence was ridiculous in the circumstances, it is even more absurd that this was commuted to a jail term.

    Those who deserve to be punished are the crooks that used the anti-terror war against Boko Haram as a cover, and profited from billions meant for anti-terror arms.  The arms scam and the alleged scammers making the news at this time are at the heart of the Jonathan administration’s failure to defeat the Islamist terrorists who have been on the rampage in the country’s northeast since 2009.

    Apart from the huge number of mortalities linked with the insurgency, and the huge figures of internally displaced persons, the yet-to-be-resolved kidnap of 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, over a year ago, remains a huge open wound on the country’s conscience.

    It was an open secret in the Jonathan presidential era that people in power ironically fuelled the Boko Haram insurgency by fraudulent acts. The anti-terror war became a pro-terror effort because of the weakening of state-capacity by government officials expected to win the war. Under the Jonathan administration, the image of the Nigerian military appeared irredeemable as it battled unimpressively and unconvincingly against terrorism.

    Now the world knows the terror war was kept going and had to be kept going, to keep the fraudulent actors going.  So, the mutinous soldiers have been vindicated. Their ultimate vindication would come when they are not made to pay for the sins of others. Or is military justice inflexibly and unfairly different?

    There is no question that the military’s already stained image in this matter would be further tainted if the authorities reject commonsensical flexibility for professional rigidity. The jailed mutineers deserve a further case review. Nothing short of freedom for them will do.

  • Injustice at Unilorin

    SIR: We are compelled to invite the special attention of the public to the exploitation of postgraduate students of Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin. It would be recalled that the University of Ilorin recently released the list of its admitted students for postgraduate programmes for the 2015/2016 session. Going by the school instruction, successful candidates are expected to perform their registration online, including payment of school fees and other sundry payments through the university website. It has become the university policy that all money due to the school are to be paid through banks or online transaction.

    Curiously, on December 30, 2015 postgraduate students of Faculty of Law received email and text messages from the coordinators of faculty of law postgraduate programmes to the effect that all postgraduate students of law should come to the faculty the following day for manual registration of courses. Unknown to the students, the coordinators have laid down a well-coordinated plan to extort them of N5000 each under the cover of a dubious “clearance fee”. All the students who registered that day were made to cough out N5000 as a condition for manual registration of courses. What is even shocking is that the coordinators collected these money by hand without issuance of receipt against the university policy prohibiting staff from receiving money manually from students. It was obvious from their conduct that this was an attempt to corruptly enrich themselves.

    We the concerned students call on the Vice Chancellor and the Dean of Postgraduate Studies to use their good offices and call these coordinators, who are bent on milking us dry, to order and sanction them appropriately. Our demand is that the money so far illegally collected be returned to the affected students.

     

    • Sanni Onyekachi Adaba,

    University of Ilorin.

  • EX-AIG urges FG to tackle injustice, ignorance

    A retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Alhaji Bashir Albasu, has called on the Federal Government to address growing level of injustice, ignorance, poverty and corruption at the grassroots.

    Albasu made the appeal an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of 2nd Edition of the 2015 Nigeria Security Exhibition and Conference (NISEC) in Abuja yesterday.

    Albasu said in addition to what the Federal Government was doing to fight insurgency, government should go to the grassroots to make sure that it prevent injustice and other factors that fuel terrorism.

    “These are what fuel terrorism, going to Sambisa Forest to completely wipe out the terrorists is a very good and excellent effort.

    “But what do you do with what breed terrorism because if you wipe out the Boko Haram terrorists today without addressing the root causes of it the situation might resurface.

    “I remember 30 years ago, when President Shehu Shagari was in power, we had Maitatsine uprising in Kano which led to the death of over 10,000 innocent citizens.

    “The military was used to subdue the Maitatsine uprising and peace was restored in Kano.

    “Similarly, in Maiduguri before the present security challenge there was another one but I have forgotten the name they were calling themselves, it was also knocked down by the military.

    “And now we are fighting the Boko Haram. This shows that what we are doing is to allow the tree to grow and then cut the top of the tree and the branches.

    “That means the root is still intact in the ground and the tree will still grow again,” Albasu said.

  • Group laments injustice to members

    Group laments injustice to members

    A group, Ijaw Youth Leaders’ Forum Lagos (IYLF), has called for a focused and balanced leadership, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to look into the victimisation of some public office holders from Ijaw in federal agencies.

    They made the appeal in a statement signed by its Chairman Ebimobowei Jeremiah and Public Relations Officer, Tuborke-ere Moni.

    The group expressed worries over what it described as “selective victimisation” of public office holders from Ijaw, particularly in the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). It claimed that some of its leaders were being maligned with corruption charges, while other directors on whose table financial records passed through were being left out.

    Listing the achievement of the former Director-General of NIMASA, the group urged the President to intervene in the matter.

    He said: “The singling out of only Ijaw and South-South directors, such as the former NIMASA D-G, Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, for interrogation, detention and subjecting them to inhuman treatment is most regrettable in this administration of “change mantra”. The DSS and EFCC commando style of effecting arrest in this 21st Century only reminds one of the dark military days. Non Ijaw/South-South tribes were honourably invited and released after a few hours but Niger Deltans are denied access to their families and lawyers.

    “While we are not against any effort to investigate or probe previous administrations and indeed take steps against the perceived scourge of corruption in NIMASA, we hereby state that the period covered by this probe is suspicious. Avoiding probes of all employments, appointments, promotions, pre-Akpobolokemi tenure clearly portrays the Ministry of Transport as having ulterior motive. We make bold to state that Akpobolokemi’s tenure witnessed unprecedented progress in the history of NIMASA as it recorded the highest output in income generation and other world best practice reforms that he brought to bear in the life of the maritime industry in Nigeria, including the global scholarship programme; the Nigeria Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP). The group noted that the reforms changed the lives of over 2,500 Nigerian youths across the country, as they received trainings at degree levels in Marine Engineering, Marine Surveying and Nautical Sciences, among otherS, in reputable universities around the world.”

    The group also called for the opening of the Maritime University at Okerenkoko and NIMASA Science and Technical College, Okoloba which have remained closed for some time now, saying their continuous closure threatens their usefulness.

  • Students must speak against injustice, says senator

    Students must speak against injustice, says senator

    The senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Gbenga Ashafa, has urged students to speak against injustice wherever it is perpetrated.

    The lawmakers spoke at the parliamentary summit organised by the Students’ Union Government (SUG) of the Federal College of Education (Technical) in Akoka, Lagos.

    Represented by Chief Dimeji Lanwu, Ashafa, who spoke on the theme: Parliament: A panacea to judicial injustice and delay trials, said injustice thrived in the society because many people show indifference.

    The lawmaker said the slow justice administration system had helped the scourge to increase, noting that there was need for reforms that would accelerate court hearing in matter bordering on human right abuse and injustice.

    He said the eighth National Assembly would ensure the removal of impediments slowing down the justice system to enable the masses believe in the egalitarian nature of the country.

    He said: “We will be proactive and innovative in our efforts at the National Assembly to introduce legislation that ease our justice system.

    “We will ensure accelerated hearing of criminal proceedings in court, improve the rapidity of justice dispensation and eliminate the hurdles, which created bottlenecks in justice delivery. I will advise students to always speak out wherever they experience injustice.”

    In his keynote address, the Dean of Students’ Affairs of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Tunde Babawale, said principle of separation of powers as enshrined in the Constitution must be obeyed if injustice must be tackled.

    He noted that the propensity of each arm of government to see itself as law giver and justice dispenser made injustice to thrive, because of selective approach to justice administration. He said parliament remained the most prominent arm of government, adding that the legislature must understand its limitations by not attempting to usurp powers of other arms.

    Babawale advised students to acquire skills that would make unionism to be vibrant as it used to be in the 1980s. “You should believe that students’ unionism transcends representing students and campus socialisation. It should be seen as a platform to train and recruit students for leadership positions,” he said.

    Former chairman, Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area, Ayodele Adewale, said the confidence of the poor could only be restored if judicial system underwent reforms that would make the court as the last hope of a common man. He said students must push and intensify the campaign for make the judiciary independent.

    The Dean of Students’ Affairs of the college, Mr Abayomi Adegbenjo, said the management would support the union to get  functional judicial arm.

    The SUG speaker, Ibrahim Oladimeji, said the event was to enlighten students on their role to end injustice and victimisation.

    Highpoint of the event was presentation of award to Ashafa and Babawale, after which the union leaders led the guests to unveil a mace sculpture designed by the union’s parliament.

  • Drug of injustice

    •We want justice, not drugs, on our streets

    Anambra State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has raised a serious concern about the war against illicit drugs. The state commander of the agency, Mr Sule Momodu, accused some judges of handling drug-related cases with levity. According to him, most drug offences are punishable by 15 to 25 years imprisonment jail terms upon conviction, but some judges often give convicts far below these jail terms.

    This is a serious indictment of the judiciary that should be of interest to the National Judicial Council (NJC), considering the deleterious effects of illicit drugs on the society. Indeed, it is one of the most serious indictments of people who should be helping the country to get rid of criminals. Not long ago, it was reported that some convicted drug peddlers and barons were seen walking freely on the streets when they should be serving their respective jail terms.

    The issue of judges passing light sentences on various kinds of criminals is not peculiar to drug convicts alone. Indeed, it is an issue that has been bothering many Nigerians, especially when people who stole billions are given not more than a pat on the wrist upon conviction.  In the immediate past dispensation, we were regaled with stories of judges who made a fortune from electoral cases. Without doubt, the judiciary, like any other sector in the country has its own challenges and, perhaps, bad eggs. We have had cases of judges who perverted the cause of justice one way or the other. While it is true that some of them have been sanctioned by the appropriate authorities, especially in recent times, it is not unlikely that some are still left in the system. At any rate, it has to be established whether the light sentences granted some of the drug convicts was a mistake of the head or the heart, or whether it is exploitation of loopholes in our judicial system. Whatever it is, though, light sentence for drug peddling is dangerous for the society.

    Although Mr Momodu did not mention any particular judge or judges, and although we know that judges have the right to exercise their discretion in deciding the fate of accused in their courts within the ambits of the law, we want to urge that the courts see the crime of drug pushing as a serious one and give the convicts the appropriate sentences that would serve as a deterrent to other criminally-minded individuals. The society is at risk when people who should be in jail are roaming the streets. Not only that, such criminals are a bad influence on innocent youths who could easily fall for their antics in their bid to make them join criminal gangs.

    We seize this opportunity to appeal to the NDLEA and indeed other agencies handling serious state assignments to ensure that their legal teams develop the competence to handle their cases with the uttermost professionalism required so as to be able to prosecute successfully their cases against the suspects. They must realise that they need forensic evidence to secure conviction. Some judges have accused the legal teams of agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), among others, of shoddy handling of cases, thereby leaving them (judges) with no option but to free the suspects for want of diligent prosecution. The prosecutors must realise that cases must be proved beyond reasonable doubt and the judge is at liberty to decide any matter that is not proven beyond reasonable doubt in favour of the accused. So, these agencies must avoid shoddy handling of cases if they are to succeed in their mandate of ridding the country of illicit drugs and other crimes for which they were established.

  • Injustice responsible for rising crimes – Maitama Sule

    Injustice responsible for rising crimes – Maitama Sule

    •Akpabio blames PDP’s loss on choice of wrong candidates

    Former permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) and chairman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Alhaji Maitama Sule, has blamed the rising level of crimes in the country on injustice and lack of qualitative leadership.

    Sule, who spoke in Abuja yesterday as a guest during the 70th birthday celebration of Chief Ojo Maduekwe, told the dignitaries that in order for the country to move forward, there was need to ensure that only worthy leaders were elected to hold public offices. The cerebral orator also hinted that it was time for the country to produce true leaders and not looters or rulers.

    He said Nigeria is destined to be great among the comity of nations, but insisted that such greatness was only predicated on qualitative leadership.

    Sule said: “The leaders we had in the past made Nigerians great. Nigerians were proud and respected in the world. These founding fathers were historic. They always thought of Nigeria first. They were not greedy. If we have leaders who are good, godly and focused, everything will be alright. We want leaders and not rulers. We need leaders and not looters. We want leaders who will rule with the hand of honesty. We need leaders who will not steal and are not corrupt.

    “I refuse to accept the claim that religion and tribalism are the main problems of Nigeria. All the religions teach the same values. Christians are thought to love one another. Same thing goes for Muslims. All the religions of God teach peace. Nigerian Muslims are more religious than other Muslims in other parts of the world. But do we practice what Islam says? No religion teaches that you should kill others who do not share your faith.

    “You go into politics to serve the people. The most important thing is justice for all. Again, both religions encourage us to be just to all. Injustice is behind every crisis. Once there is justice and fair play, we will not have crisis.

    “We have fallen by the way side. What is happening in Nigeria is not in our character. The government institutions have broken down. Respect for elders is not there. There is lawlessness and chaos in the polity. There is corruption in the country. What is responsible for all these is lack of leadership. Nigeria is a potential great country. We have been destined by God to lead Africa.

    “I have a dream that Nigeria will one day be united. I have a dream that Nigeria will be our brother’s keeper. I have a dream that Nigeria will be respected among comity of nations. In order to realize this dream, we must have good leaders. May God grant that we may have good leaders.”

    Meanwhile, former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has blamed the monumental loss of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last general elections on wrong choice of candidates by the party.

    He said the PDP would have opted for the first 11 in order to win the elections, instead it went for the wrong candidates. He said his party has now been saddled with the responsibility of piloting the affairs of the opposition at the federal level.

    His words: “Ojo Maduekwe is my mentor. I know that God loves you. Nigerians love you. You are celebrating your birthday. PDP did what we have always done in the past 16 years. We did not use our best 11 and that was why we lost the elections. We have now been saddled with the responsibility of piloting the affairs of the opposition. I believe that even in business or in any endeavour, we must go for the best 11.”

  • Ex-workers protest ‘injustice’

    •‘They ‘ve no case’

    Some ex-workers of De Skyline Hotel in Ikeja have accused the management of sacking them without paying their entitlements.

    The protesters, who are members of the Youth League for Change, marched through the nearby PWD, bus stop, waving placards with inscriptions: “Segun Awolowo stop victimising our ladies, stop harassing and sacking workers unjustly, salary is not a gift, we worked for it”.

    Mr Sunday Abbah, who led the protest said it was informed by the non-acknowledgment of their petition by the hotel’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Segun Awolowo.

    Awolowo owns three hotels (De Skyline Hotel and two Country Guest Houses) in Ikeja.

    The protesters accused Awolowo of verbal insult, abuse, exploitation, intimidation and unlawful sack without payment.

    A victim, Miss Hadijat Issa who was initially employed as a receptionist and later became the manager of the Hotel at Ikeja narrated her ordeal.

    She said: “The problem is whenever Mr Awolowo comes back from abroad, he always sack his workers and employ new ones. When he came back in May, he called me to come and meet him at Skyline hotel, on getting there, I met him and the new Skyline Manager that was employed two weeks before his arrival. He ordered the new manager and me to stay at Skyline for one week for recruiting exercise.  The following week, he called me to a meeting to flush out some workers in Country Guest House. It took him just one week to sack almost all the workers and replaced them with new ones. He told me that my administration is not good, that things were stolen and a customer checked in without payment”.

    Natasha Okon who worked as a receptionist said “I started on January 30th. After three weeks, I was transferred to Country Guest House. I was sacked in May. He just called me one day and said ‘you are still here, you have not been sacked? Three days later, I went to work only for the security to bar me from entering. They will tell the gateman not to open the gate for you, that was how they sack there”

    Contacted,  Awolowo’s  lawyer, Louis Nwaugbala said: “I don’t want to talk to you; I have every right not to talk to you. Those people are involved in a criminal case”.

    An officer at the Police Airport Command, Austine Osabase, a Deputy Superintendent  (DSP), urged the parties to resolved the issue amicably. He called Nwangbala, who denied knowledge of the petition sent to the management.

    Nwaugbala told The Nation on phone: “If you hear from me, you have heard from the horse’s mouth. What they did (protest) is tantamount to taking law in their hands; if there are issues, there are processes to follow. Mr Awolowo is not even in the position to say anything; moreover he is not in the country. The last time he came to the country was last December. There is a particular customer of ours, a lawyer who works with the Ministry of Justice, Abuja. On that particular day, she wanted to go out and she was interrogated as to where she was going to and she answered that she will be back soon. These people took her keys and stole most of her belongings. She noticed it but had an urgent meeting in Abuja to attend to and she travelled back. She sent her sister down here to take over the case. One was even caught with stolen money in her underwear.  All these people are criminals and irresponsible.

    “When Mr Segun Awolowo was briefed about this, he was not happy with the development. I can categorically tell you that all what they have said are issues of lies. When you run a business and your things keep getting missing or stolen, what step will you take?” he asked