Obi alleges threat to life over comments on Tinubu – Newstrends
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Obi alleges threat to life over comments on Tinubu

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Peter Obi

Obi alleges threat to life over comments on Tinubu

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has said that his New Year message on the state of the nation under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government has led to threats against his life and family.

Obi said this on Monday in a series of tweets on his X handle.

The former Anambra State governor said he had received all sorts of messages including threats to his life and that of those around him.

Daily Trust reports that Obi in his New Year message, insisted that Nigeria’s economic situation had worsened despite improvement claims by the Federal Government and that the country remains one of the poverty capitals in the world.

Obi also criticised President Bola Tinubu, asking him to stop overseas trips and conduct his medical examinations in Nigeria.

“Mr President, out of the approximately 580 days you have been in office, it is reported that you have spent over 30%, or around 180 days, on more than 30 publicly recorded overseas trips,” Obi had said.

However, speaking during an interview on Arise Television, the spokesperson of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, said Obi was crossing the line with his incessant criticisms of the ruling party and Tinubu’s government.

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“Peter Obi is really crossing the line. The campaigns are over, he needs to relax and allow his lawyers to handle his case at the tribunal. Accusing the APC of attacking his personal life is ridiculous.

“Obi has been way too sanctimonious for someone who volunteered to venture into politics and run for the presidency,” Morka had said.

Reacting to Morka’s comments, Obi wondered if he had actually crossed the line, as he reshared the video of his New Year message and urged Nigerians to point out the boundary he overstepped.

“Have I really crossed the line? I ask the question because my New Year message has now led to threats against my life, my family, and those around me. While I have received all sorts of messages, one Mr. Felix Morka has gone further to accuse me of ‘crossing the line’ and has warned that I will face the consequences.

“I find it necessary to share this message again and urge everyone who has not seen it to watch: youtube.com/watch?v=waGknJ…

If I have truly crossed the line, I invite anyone to point it out, as I remain committed to upholding decorum,” Obi said.

He, however, said he would not be silenced in his resolve to speak truthfully, especially as the nation continued to drift toward “undemocratic practices.”

He said, “We are increasingly transforming into an authoritarian and repressive regime, where freedom of expression is being systematically suppressed.”

Obi alleges threat to life over comments on Tinubu

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ICPC slams El-Rufai’s ex-aide with money laundering charges

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January 8, 2025

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ICPC slams El-Rufai’s ex-aide with money laundering charges

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has charged a former Chief of Staff to immediate past Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Saidu, with alleged money laundering at the Federal High Court.

Saidu, who was also a one-time Commissioner of Finance in El-Rufai’s administration, was charged along with Ibrahim Muktar, described as “a public officer in the employment of the Ministry of Finance”.

The charge states that the defendants are facing a two-count charge of money laundering, contrary to an earlier claim that Saidu had been found not guilty of all charges after 10 months of investigation.

The court document stated that sometime in March 2022 or thereabouts, Saidu, who was the Commissioner of Finance at the time, “did accept a cash payment of N155,000,000.00 from Ibrahim Muktar, exceeding the amount authorised by law, which sum you (Saidu) received in cash through proxy to wit: Muazu Abdu, your Special Assistant, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 2(a) and punishable under the Section 19(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022”.

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The ICPC also alleged that in the same March 2022 or thereabouts, Saidu “indirectly took control of N155,000,000.00 received in cash for and on behalf of you by Muazu Abdul from Ibrahim Muktar, which fund you reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity to wit: corruption, and you hereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022”.

Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 states that “any person who contravenes the provisions of Subsection (2) is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than four years but not more than fourteen (14) years or a fine not less than five times the value of the proceeds of the crime or both”.

The charge, which was signed by the Assistant Chief Legal Officer of ICPC, Dr. Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha, was filed yesterday at the Federal High Court of Nigeria in Kaduna.

 

ICPC slams El-Rufai’s ex-aide with money laundering charges

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14-yr-old boy stabbed to death in London bus

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January 8, 2025

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14-yr-old boy stabbed to death in London bus

A 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death in broad daylight on a London bus on Tuesday in the latest knife-crime incident in the British capital, police said.

The victim was killed on one of the city’s familiar double-decker red buses in Woolwich, southeast London, police said in a statement.

Paramedics treated the boy for stab wound injuries at the scene, “but he very sadly died shortly after medics arrived,” the statement added. No arrest was immediately reported.

The incident comes after an 11-year-old girl was seriously injured in a stabbing in the busy Leicester Square area of London last August.

A 32-year-old man was later arrested.

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In September, a teenager was stabbed to death in the same area of Woolwich. Three young men have been charged and will face trial over the killing that the prosecutor described as “tit-for-tat violence with all the hallmarks of a turf war”.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called knife crime a “national crisis”.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan wrote on X on Tuesday that his “thoughts are with the family, friends and wider community in Greenwich following the appalling fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old boy.”

Matthew Pennycook, the Labour MP for Greenwich and Woolwich, said he was “deeply saddened that yet another young life has been lost in our community”.

Office for National Statistics data released in October said that knife crime in England and Wales was up four percent in the 12 months to June compared to the previous year.

It was still lower than pre-pandemic levels, however.

The Labour government, in power since July, has pledged to halve knife crime in the next decade.

A ban on some knives and machetes came into force in September and the government hopes to prohibit ninja swords.

14-yr-old boy stabbed to death in London bus

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El-Rufai, Atiku allies, Al-Mustapha in talks with SDP leaders

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January 8, 2025

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El-Rufai, Atiku allies, Al-Mustapha in talks with SDP leaders

Several prominent opposition figures convened for a closed-door meeting with officials of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Abuja on Tuesday.

Details of the meeting’s agenda remain undisclosed at the time of this report, fueling speculation about possible alliances or strategic discussions ahead of upcoming political events.

The meeting took place early on Tuesday at the national secretariat of the SDP and included former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (former Chief Security Officer to General Sani Abacha), and Otunba Segun Showunmi, a former spokesman for Atiku Abubakar, among others.

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Confirming the meeting, Showunmi shared the news on his Facebook page.

He wrote: “You must set forth at dawn! A strategic meeting was called by HE Shehu Gabam, Chairman of SDP, with HE Nasir El-Rufai, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, and Otunba Segun Showunmi. The alternative to meet, greet, and review the state of opposition democratic engagement in Nigeria.”

This development follows El-Rufai’s dismissal of reports suggesting that he had defected from the APC to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

Responding to the rumours on his verified X account, the former Kaduna governor urged Nigerians to disregard the false reports, calling them “patent lies.” He also revealed that he had instructed his lawyers to take legal action against those spreading the misinformation.

“Please disregard the patent lies and rumours about my political affiliation. I have referred the lead peddlers of the fake news for further action by my lawyers,” El-Rufai posted on Sunday.

A close associate of the former governor, who requested anonymity, also described the claims as the work of mischief-makers, stressinig that El-Rufai, a key figure in the APC, would not have defected to the PDP without making it public.

 

El-Rufai, Atiku allies, Al-Mustapha in talks with SDP leaders

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