Nnamdi Kanu did not betray anybody by accepting bail - Femi Fani-Kayode

- The former minister of aviation Femi Fani-Kayode has said that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) did not betray anyone by accepting the bail granted to him

- Fani-Kayode Kanu is the symbol of the struggle for Biafra and needed to fight from outside the confine of a prison

- He also congratulated the IPOB leader for meeting his bail conditions .

The former minister of aviation Femi Fani-Kayode has said that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu did not betray anyone by accepting the bail granted to him by a Federal High Court in Abuja. Fani-Kayode  while speaking to NAIJ.com on Sunday, May 1, after meeting with Kanu in his Abuja residence said those calling for the IPOB leader's head do not understand the enormity of his struggle. The former minister said: "The system doesn't work like that, if he rejected bail, he would have played right into the hands of his enemies. There is absolutely no point for him to stay there, holding four people down."

He said being outside the confines of the prison will give Kanu the opportunity to mobilize and legally fight his cause. "Now one of them managed to get out, now he can call and agitate, fight to ensure through his legal team I mean and mobilize other lawyers to ensure that others get bail and come out," Fami Kayode said. Fani-Kayode said he believes that Kanu's co-accused who were refused bail would either appeal the ruling of the court or make fresh applications for their bail.

"Those that say he betrayed anybody by leaving the others there simply do not understand or cannot comprehend the enormity of these issues. "It is a much bigger issue than just Nnamdi Kanu and any of the people who have been locked up. You are talking of the lives of millions of people in this country about the very foundation of our nation.

"And the question is how do you define Nigeria, he wants to redefine Nigeria, he wants to create his own country and that its lawful within the confines of the law of self-determination. It is an internally guaranteed law. If he decides to say, "I will wait to till everyone gets bail," then that's not leadership. The former minister said leadership entails doing things one may not be too happy or comfortable to do. He noted that as the symbol of the struggle for Biafra, Kanu needed to be out of Kuje Prison. "He had to come out because he is the symbol of the struggle, I am sure his colleagues i there are happy he is out," he said. Further congratulating the IPOB leader on his release, the Fani-Kayode said the federal government never did Kanu a favour by granting him bail.

He said: "I am delighted that he is released and I won't thank anybody for that, nobody did him a favour, he had the right to that bail and he is not the sort of man that is going to run away." I am happy he got the bail, I thank God for his (Kanu's) resilience because it is not easy to spend almost two years fighting to get your bail," he said.

Stringent bail conditions for Nnamdi Kanu

Also speaking on condemnation that the bail conditions meted to Kanu were stringent, Fani-Kayode said the important thing is that the IPOB leader was able to meet his bail. He said it is also encouraging that people were prepared to stand for Kanu even in the most difficult times. "The fact is that while the bail conditions were difficult, he met them. That is most important thing and people were prepared to stand up for him to ensure that he got out. Again it goes to show you how much good will, how much affection people have for him and again goes to show you that he has become a formidable force in this country; which nobody can deny. Again, I commend him for the fact that he could meet those bail conditions and not just meeting them but meeting them so quickly," Fani-Kayode added. Also on the need for the judiciary to in standing for justice rather than turning against the people, Fani-Kayode said: "Well, I am reluctant to criticize the judiciary." Because I know that they really do their very best despite the difficult circumstances that they are working in, as far as I am aware, they are doing their very best.

I also know that on different occasion they have given court orders that the executive have simply refused to abide to abide by those orders, so, they are operating in a very difficult conditions.

I am a great fan of the judiciary and I can only commend them and the fact that the judge gave Nnamdi Kanu bail is one I consider to be a lot of opposition for the various quarters. I must commend her courage for that goes to show you that the judiciary is alive and they are prepared to do the right thing. Now that he is released Fani-Kayode said: "I expect him to continue to do what I believe he was ordained by God to do which is to fight for the interest of his people and to do his very best to secure the best deal for the South-East in which ever way that he can." I don't except him to stop doing that but at the end of the they are his choices to make. I sincerely hope and believe anyway that he will rise to the occasion, that he will carry that enormous mantle that God has placed upon his shoulder," he noted.

The former minister however said, he believes God has ordained Kanu to play a key role in the affairs of the people of South-East and South-South. "And I will say it again, this man as far as I am concerned is the Ojukwu, Azikiwe, Nzeogwu, all that into one.. And he also has a strong intellectual flair which is very profound. I discussed at length with him, even when we were in Kuje together and today we had a three our discussion.. he (Kanu) is very very profound and that is very refreshing. He said while they are profound leaders from the South-East, only few will voice their opinion on critical national issues. Nnamdi Kanu has refused to be intimidated, he has stood up for what he believes and that is commendable. I also look at the fact that over a thousand of his people, I mean the IPOB have been killed in cold blood by security agencies over the last two years. I am certain that he will not dishonour their memories by turning his back on the cause.

Panic over Buhari's health: OBJ, IBB, Abdulsalami meet secretly in Minna

- A very crucial meeting has held between three former leaders of Nigeria in Minna.

-The meeting which held in secret, was between Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) and General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) .

-There are speculations that the meeting was held to discuss issues not unconnected to President Muhammadu Buhari's health Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) and General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), have met behind closed doors in Minna, the capital of Niger state. The meeting took place on Monday, April 1. According to Leadership, the meeting which lasted for over two hours was held at the hilltop home of former military president, IBB. It was learnt that visitors who usually besiege Babangida’s house were streamlined, with some of them stopped from entering the house ahead of the arrival of former President Obasanjo at about 3:00pm yesterday. Before the arrival of Obasanjo, former head of state, General Abubakar was already in IBB’s house waiting. On arrival, Niger state governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, received Obasanjo at Minna airport and took him to IBB home at hill top without official retinue.it was gathered that the governor led Obasanjo to the inner chamber where the duo of IBB and Abubakar were waiting.

It was learnt that after the usual pleasantries, even the closest domestic and security staff in the house were excused from the inner chamber at the time the meeting went into closed door. It was also gathered that the Niger State governor who initially received Obasanjo later left the three elder statesmen. The former leaders met for over two hours before Obasanjo left the state at about 6:00pm. Details of the meeting were still not known at the time of writing this report, but a source close to one of the former leaders told our correspondent that the former leaders may have discussed some crucial national issues. Meanwhile, the founding national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, has observed that some persons with political interests within the corridor of power were harping on President Muhammadu Buhari’s health to cause confusion in the country. He, however, urged Nigerians to pray fervently for the president’s health, saying the health of the leader is intertwined with the health of the nation. Akande pointed out that there are two challenges facing the country at the moment, the first and most critical being the health of the president, which he described as an unfortunate development that is beyond Buhari’s control. He said the second challenge was “the disorder and lack of cohesion between the National Assembly and the Presidency”. In statement he issued yesterday, Akande said: “These are two great red flag dangers that have the potential of plunging the country into unprecedented chaos and of destabilising the gains of democracy since 1999. “The greatest danger however is for political interests at the corridor of power attempting to feast on the health of Mr President in a dangerous manner that may aggravate the problems between the Executive and the National Assembly without realizing if, in the end, it could drag the entire country into avoidable doom. “As delicately fragile the Union of nations making up Nigeria, so delicately fragile the democracy and the rule of laws governing the polity of the Union called Nigerian Federation. Certain Nigerian leaders, having been blindfolded by corruption, assume the possibility of using money in manipulating the national security agencies to intimidate, suppress and hold down certain ethnic nationalities or playing one ethnic nationality against the other with a view to undermining the constitution and perversely upturning the rule of law. “To avoid the ugly consequences of letting President Buhari’s ailments throw Nigeria into confusion, I am urging all Nigerians to begin to pray for his divine healing and perfect recovery”. Akande

NNAMDI KANU’S TRAVAILS: A BARE BAIL DEVOID OF LIBERTY, SAYS MIKE OZEKHOME

I congratulate Justice Binta Nyako for being courageous enough to even grant bail at all to IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, on health grounds. This is predicated on the truism that the Judiciary has been so humiliated, browbeaten, terrorized and emasculated by the Executive, that it takes extraordinary courage and daring bravado, for a Judge to even grant bail to a much vilified Nnamdi Kanu, whose only “crime” is that he seeks self determination for his repressed, oppressed, suppressed and marginalized indigenous people of Biafra, a right recognized even by the UNO and AU in all self – determination instruments.
The catch here however, is that in granting the bail, the Judge, apparently trying to tread softly, took back with the right hand what she gave with the left hand. Bail is a constitutional right. It is guaranteed by section 35(5) of the 1999 Constitution, with or without conditions attached. But any conditions so attached to bail must be such that the grant of bail is itself not rendered meaningless and impotent as in the Nnamdi case. Kanu’s bail conditions are outrightly stringent, punitive, discriminatory, profiling and stereotyping. Hear them:
He must produce 3 sureties, who must deposit the sum of 100m each (a ready recipe for corruption).
One of the sureties must be a highly respected Jewish leader since Kanu practices Judaism as his religion (discrimination on the basis of religion).
Produce a highly placed person of Igbo extraction (discrimination on the basis of place of origin and ethnic group).
Produce a respected person who resides and owns landed property in Abuja (a call for the elitist money bags).
Must not attend any rally or grant an interview (breach of freedom of movement and speech).
Must not be in a crowd exceeding 10 persons (denial of freedom of Association).
Must surrender his Nigerian and British passports (denial of freedom of movement).
Must sign an undertaking to be available for trial at all times (normal. This is the main purpose of bail).
His wedding ring and reading glasses to be given back to him (thank God for tokenism).
Must provide monthly update on Kanu’s health (yes, to ensure his health is improving).
Some of the bail conditions are not only troubling, unsetting and punitive, but are simply unconstitutional, as briefly highlighted above.
Section 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that
“a citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a person:-
(a) be subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any executive or administrative action of the government, to disabilities or restrictions to which citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions or political opinions are not made subject to; or
(b) be accorded either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or administrative action, any privilege or advantage that is not accorded to citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions or political opinions.
(2) No citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his birth.
It is crystal clear from these constitutional provisions that the stringent bail conditions granted to Nnamdi have clearly discriminated against him and subjected him to “certain disabilities or restriction” on the basis of his religion, place of birth, political opinion and ethnic group.
What the bail conditions are simply saying is that it will be illegal, forbidden and contrary to the bail conditions were Kanu to do the following:
(a) Kanu cannot be received by a multitude of his village people, kindred and kinsmen, who have missed his presence since his mindless incarceration over one and half years ago, contrary to the right to freedom of Association granted by section 40 of the 1999 Constitution.
(b) That Kanu cannot express his right to freedom of expression clearly guaranteed by section 39 of the Constitution.
(c) That Kanu cannot exercise his freedom of movement guaranteed by section 41 of the Constitution.
(d) That Kanu cannot receive sympathizers, well wishers and political Associates, once they are more than 10.
(e) That Kanu cannot freely exercise, without being monitored, his freedom of religion and conscience contrary to section 38 of the Nigerian Constitution.
(f) That Kanu cannot, at any given time, even in his household or larger family setting, host more than 10 people (ludicrous; unnatural!).
(g) That Kanu cannot even visit any hospital to take care of his health, because the hospital staff of Doctors, nurses, para-medical staff and other patients, must surely exceed 10 (contrary to section 17(3)(c) of the Constitution.
(h) That Kanu cannot attend church service or the synagogue worship to glorify God in thanksgiving for his release, since such place of worship will harbour hundreds if not thousands, of people (contrary to section 10 and 38 of the Constitution).
(i) That Kanu cannot even go to a busy motor park, airport, seaport, Parks and Gardens, Cinema hall, theatre, to transport himself, watch films or relax, or even go to Shoprite to shop.
(j) That Kanu cannot deliver lectures to students, or groups, or participate in seminars, workshops, summits, conferences, etc., as these involve many people.
(k) That by way of summary, Kanu should remain a hermit, marooned like Robinson Crusoe in the 1719 novel of the same name, by Daniel Defoe, who spent over 28 years as a castaway, after he was washed up on the shores of a deserted island, near the mouth of Oronoco River in South America.
Day by day, we subject the Nigerian society to bottomless ridicule and derision in the comity of Nations. Bail conditions are simply to ensure the attendance of a person in court, and nothing more. Once excessive or punitive, bail loses its purpose, function and goal. I urge Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyers to immediately file an application before the same Justice Binta, for variation of the bail terms to more favourable ones, that will make Kanu a human being once more. I urge the Nigerian judiciary to stand up “gidigba”, to defend the rights of all Nigerians against executive lawlessness, judicial timidity and legislative rascality. God bless Nigeria and Nigerians.
-  MIKE A. A. OZEKHOME, SAN, OFR, FCIARB, LL.D
CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST

“I Never Supported Buhari For President” …Obasanjo

‘Against The Run of Play’, Olusegun Adeniyi’s new book which has been generating interests on wider scales, has revealed yet another intriguing aspect of the drama that characterized the 2015 general elections that ushered in the incumbent administration of  PresidentMuhammadu Buhari.
An excerpt from the book quoted former President Olusegun Obasanjo as saying he never supported Buhari’s choice as then President Goodluck Jonathan’s successor. According to Obasanjo in the book, he was not one of the drivers of Buhari-For-President, all he wanted was an alternative to Jonathan who he believed was breaching an agreement he made to him not to run for second term in office.
The excerpts;
“The former President recalled how Jonathan became the Vice President in 2007 and how he stuck out his neck for him to be elected president in 2011 to solve minority agitation.
He said: “You know of course that Jonathan was not my first choice as running mate to your late boss (Yar’Adua), it was Dr. Peter Odili. But whether by fate or some conspiracy, Odili had hurdles that made it impossible for him to take the position. That was how I settled for Jonathan.
“I saw the emergence of Jonathan as an opportunity to solve the minority agitation. The three majority ethnic groups can always sort themselves out but not so for the minority.
“A good example is my state here in Ogun. Despite the best intentions, nobody from Ogun West has been able to become governor because of this minority issue and it will take a conscious effort to make it happen. “So, it was in that context that I had to plead with prominent people in the North to allow Jonathan run for a term.”
On Jonathan re-election bid in 2015, Obasanjo spoke of how the ex-President told him that he would not seek a second term in office.
He added: “I confronted him several times but he kept deceiving himself and when I could no longer put up with it, I had to register my opposition to the idea on record as I did in my letter to him.
“I didn’t join them in supporting Buhari; I joined in opposing Jonathan so Buhari was just a beneficiary of my opposition to Jonathan since my opposition was AOBJ: Any Option But Jonathan
“Jonathan and his handlers believed they could buy the election and they were so arrogant about it that the PDP would print only one nomination for him and him alone.
“If he was wise, he would have yielded the ticket to somebody else in the PDP.”
He said although Jonathan enlisted Pastor Enoch Adeboye and Bishop David Oyedepo to beg him at the Hilltop residence in Abeokuta, he said he stood his ground that Jonathan must abide by one term agreement.

Ayorinde: Recession Lessons Other States Must Learn From Lagos

As Nigeria gradually makes its way out of economic recession, the House of Representatives on Wednesday commended the Lagos State Government’s role, saying that the success story of the State was not only benefitting residents, but helping to get the nation’s economy back on track.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Economic Recession, Hon. Olabode Ayorinde who said this when he led members of the Committee on a courtesy visit to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode at the Lagos House in Ikeja, said the State currently dictates the pace of the economy in Nigeria.
While congratulating the Governor on his developmental strides in the last two years, Ayorinde said other States could learn from the template Lagos deployed to tackle the economic recession.
He said: “We take legislative notice of the serious development that is going on in Lagos State and with your permission, we don’t mind interacting with those that are in charge perhaps there are one or two things that we can recommend to other states in the nation because in togetherness we can only move this nation forward.
“Talking seriously, the economic power of Lagos State also dictates the pace of the economy in Nigeria. Some of the steps that Lagos is taking now, some other States that have not been able to pay salaries may not be able to take such steps. We are looking at this nationally; for example, if an industry is working in Lagos that is employing about 5000 persons I am sure that the company will not employ only citizens of Lagos State. So, it is to the benefit of Nigeria and if the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country increases, it is not a factor of where it comes from, wherever the economy has been improved, it is national income and Nigeria will be better for it.”
Earlier, Ayorinde said he was in Lagos with his team to inspect some of the moribund industries in the State, with a view to coming up with appropriate legislations that would help them get back in business.
Responding, Governor Ambode said his administration intensified its capital expenditure to reflate the State’s economy, noting that 60 percent of its budget last year was ploughed towards infrastructural projects in all parts of the State to tackle recession.
He said such projects contributed significantly to keep the State’s economy afloat with low income earners engaged, adding that it was important for government at all levels to keep spending on infrastructure.
“Every contract or construction that you see in the nooks and crannies of Lagos, there is a bricklayer that is employed; there is a driver that is driving lorry load of sand; there is that food seller that is given the workers some food and a minimum of N5,000 in every household has a multiplier effect on the economy.
“So, that is the sure way that we have done this and we have not kept that development in one area, we have replicated it in all the senatorial zones so that those living in Badagry can earn income in Badagry and actually improve on the economy. This is what we think should be replicated by other States in the country and even at the national level. You need to spend your way out of recession and that is why it appears there is nothing like recession in the city of Lagos,” Governor Ambode said.
The Governor also said that his administration invested massively on security and reviving a 24/7 economy for the State through the Light Up Lagos project, saying that such was important for the economy to thrive.
Besides, Governor Ambode called for convergence between fiscal and monetary policies to tackle recession, while also urging lawmakers to come up with legislations that would take people out of poverty.
“I want to enjoin our legislative house that we need to fast-track some of our legislations that are really people-driven and also back us in terms of the executive decisions that will take us out of recession,” he said.