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Natasha vs Akpabio: Unnecessary Distraction to a Nation Already in Crisis – Dele Momodu

Published

7 days ago

March 10, 2025

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

As the imbroglio between the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Nigerian Senate on one hand, and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on another hand, continues to heighten, celebrated journalist, who is also the Chairman, Ovation Media Group, Chief Dele Momodu, has dismissed confrontations as unnecessary distractions to a Nation already in too much crises.

Chief Momodu made the remarks via his verified Instagram handle, where he detailed his ‘kobo observations’ to the crises that have threatened to tear the nation apart, and in particular, the National Assembly, which Akpabio presides over as the chairman.

Without holding briefs for any of the contending parties, Momodu observed that the challenge could have been privately sorted out without it hitting the public space, especially as the senate president and Natasha’s husband, the former Governor of Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan, are very close friends. He also lambasted those he described as ‘meddlesome interlopers’, whose unsolicited activities, snowballed the challenges into a confrontation.

He frowned at the way every party mismanaged the affair, which has now blown into full scale crises, resulting in the suspension of Natasha from performing her legitimate legislative duties for six months, and keeping her Constituency in legislative limbo for half of the year.

In one swift reaction, Momodu carpeted Natasha for attempting to kill a fly with a sledgehammer by her live television interview where she accused Akpabio of sexual harassment; Akpabio and his senate sympathizers for their hasty and defensive reaction, which only pumped petrol into the ready raging inferno; Akpabio’s wife, and even the President’s wife, Remi Tinubu for being apparently dismissive of the matter instead of showing more empathy and the Senate Committee that found Natasha guilty, and prescribed the punishments that the senate immediately implemented.

Momodu concluded with a categorical statement that Natasha is obviously being bullied by her colleagues in the senate.

He wrote: “Now that everyone is putting their hands and mouth into the AKPABIO/NATASHA imbroglio, let me donate my kobo observations…

“The matter was mismanaged from the beginning by the two Principal actors in the melodrama plus their meddlesome interlopers, the SENATORs and others who are working feverishly at defending their boss and protecting obvious interests… They are outsiders weeping louder than the bereaved…

“Since Natasha’s husband and Akpabio were supposed to be friends, they should have been manly enough to call themselves into a room and reconcile the warriors amicably…

“What led to the open fracas was too inconsequential to suddenly metamorphose into sexual allegations. I was dazed and nearly fainted when Natasha dropped the atomic bomb on ARISE NEWS Television during a live interview that reverberated beyond the seas… It was like killing a fly with a sledgehammer…

“The reaction of the Senate itself was hastily defensive and immediately pumped petrol into the raging inferno… Madam Akpabio’s intervention to protect her husband changed nothing. What did the hapless spectators expect? Mrs Tinubu’s interlocution should have been more reconciliatory than condemnatory. As a very experienced FEMALE legislator and now our Mother of the nation, her words should have carried more empathy than the apparent dismissiveness.

“The Senate committee, or whatever, that probed the ugly saga acted more like a Judge in its own CAUSE, while studiously ignoring the jurisprudential injunction of “Nemo judex in causa sua…” (a man shall not be a Judge in its own cause…)

“After all the hocus pocus, I can say categorically that Natasha is being vehemently bullied. This has drawn more sympathy to her even from those who doubted her weighty allegation.

“Nevertheless, it is not too late to toe the path of peace instead of digging deeper into the abyss.

“SUCH AN UNNECESSARY DISTRACTION TO A NATION ALREADY IN TOO MUCH CRISES…”

It would be recalled that following a change of sitting arrangement in the upper chamber as a result of the need to accommodate decampees, including Senator Ned Nwoko, into the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Natasha vehemently refused to move, causing drama in the senate. She attributed her removal to hatred, intimidation and her refusal to give in to sexual by the senate president.

The tension generated during the period made Natasha to raise her voice, telling Akpabio that she was not afraid of him. The Senate was not comfortable with the affront, and consequently seconded the matter to Ethics and Privileges Committee, which found her on all fronts, and recommended Sanctions, one of which was six months suspension and withdrawal of salaries, allowances and.security details.

But the last is yet to be heard as Natasha described the decisions as injustice that cannot stand.

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Rivers Crises: Dele Momodu Writes Open Letter to Tinubu

Published

10 hours ago

March 16, 2025

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

Following the political crises that have ravaged Rivers State, and President Tinubu’s subtle preference for one of the gladiators, Mr. Nyesom Wike, the former governor of the state, and present Minister of the Federal Capital Territory against the incumbent governor, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara, Chairman, Ovation Media Group, Chief Dele Momodu, has written yet another letter to the president.

Momodu reminded the president of life after office, and the need to live according to his democratic billings and background, stating that God has been kind to him to give him what Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and the rest couldn’t get, their popularity and doggedness notwithstanding. He pointed out the recent happenings at the Lagos State House of Assembly, where the lawmakers impeached his anointed speaker, whom he restored, saying that was part of the signals towards the impending rebellion ahead.

The letter in full:

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT TINUBU
By DELE MOMODU

My dear ASIWAJU, I pray this message meets you well. This letter has become necessary because of the strange things happening under your watch. I believe you were a Democracy hero and some of your mentees in the 1990s are now thoroughly embarrassed, and we feel scandalized, by your complete transfiguration from a Democracy Fighter to an enabler of ruthless Dictatorship. I have watched with incredulity, and sometimes trepidation, how you have wasted the humongous goodwill you built and acquired in those days of military rulership. How sad and unfortunate!!

Your Excellency, let me tell you what your hangers on will not tell you. Your deification by hero-worshippers is a charade. Permit me to give you two tales from Yoruba folklore. The first is the story of A O MERIN JOBA. How the elephant was deceived into thinking he shall become the ultimate king of the jungle until he fell into the ditch dug by the same acolytes.

The second is that of ESIN OBA SONU. The King’s Horse disappeared and a massive hunt ensued. It is not everyone searching for it that wants it recovered.

Have you forgotten the encomiums you and other members of your ruling party poured on President Muhammadu Buhari barely two years ago? Today, you’re all singing new tunes. The same fate awaits you sooner or later. The government agencies of coercion you’re deploying today to harass your opponents would be mobilized to hound you and yours if and when tomorrow comes.

The polity is dangerously heating up at the speed of light. Perhaps, only you and your diehards cannot see it. The recent rebellion in the Lagos State House of Assembly should have been a veritable signal to you about the impending resistance ahead.

Your open support for Minister Wike’s destabilization of Rivers State is most regrettable. God has been most kind to you. You got what CHIEFS AWOLOWO, AZIKIWE, M.K.O ABIOLA, OLU FALAE and MAJOR GENERAL YAR’ADUA couldn’t achieve. Why do you now place your fate in the hands of gods with feet of clay?!

Your legitimate ambition to seek a second term does not warrant this level of rascality across the nation…

Best wishes…

BOB DEE

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Again, El-Rufai Attacks Tinubu over Chicago Varsity Certificate Scandal, Calls President Ungrateful

Published

11 hours ago

March 16, 2025

Eric

A former Governor of Kaduna State Nasir El-Rufai, said he and his allies had hoped that President Bola Tinubu would replicate his achievements in Lagos at the national level but failed woefully.

El-Rufai explained that despite concerns about Tinubu’s alleged certificate forgery from Chicago State University during the 2023 presidential election they backed him, believing he could transform Nigeria as he did Lagos.

“What pains me is that the government we supported and had confidence in would do well, because we saw what Tinubu did in Lagos despite his challenges,” El-Rufai told BBC Hausa in an interview on Saturday.

“We all know about his issues in Chicago, but we thought if he could replicate his work in Lagos for Nigeria, let’s support him. However, he failed,”

El-Rufai called on opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, and Rauf Aregbesola, to unite under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to salvage the country.

“What I want and pray for is for all opposition leaders—Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, and Rauf Aregbesola—to join the SDP,” he added.

El-Rufai also dismissed accusations that he betrayed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, stating that his past disagreements with Atiku during the Obasanjo administration were based on principle, not personal animosity.

“I never betrayed Atiku Abubakar because we didn’t meet in politics; we met at work. In work, if I see that he didn’t do well, whoever he is, I will tell him. I told Buhari, and I even took Buhari to court on the new naira issue,” he said.

“When Obasanjo and Atiku were having issues, those of us working with Obasanjo looked at the issues between them and said Obasanjo was more right. It was not about north and south; Obasanjo was right. Atiku and I are now together, and if I betrayed him, why are we together now.”

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Sanusi Lamido Remains Emir, Kano Govt Insists, Says Appeal Court Can’t Contradict Itself

Published

1 day ago

March 15, 2025

Eric

Kano State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Haruna Isa Dederi, has insisted that the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on the lingering emirship tussle has not invalidated the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir.

Besides, Dederi declared that having passed a landmark verdict on January 10, 2025, reaffirming the power of the Kano State Government to reappoint Sanusi, it is impossible for the Court of Appeal to set aside or quash its own decision on the same matter.

The Attorney General made this position known to journalists while reacting to Friday’s ruling of the Appellate Court on the application for a stay of execution filed by Alh. Aminu Baba DanAgundi, one of the kingmakers loyal to the 15th Emir of Kano, Alh. Aminu Ado Bayero, pending the determination of the appeal at the Supreme Court.

According to Dederi, the matter is functus officio, adding that only the Supreme Court has the power to set aside the decision of the Appeal Court handed down by Justice Mohammad Mustapha on January 10, 2025.

“The Appeal Court today, after hearing their application for a stay of execution, ruled that the status quo should rather be maintained as it is now until after the judgment of the Supreme Court. They have filed an appeal at the Supreme Court.

“It doesn’t mean that the judgment delivered on January 10, 2025, has been quashed. That judgment is still standing, still in place, and subsisting. The Court of Appeal cannot reverse its own decision. It is not possible. Only the Supreme Court has the power to set aside the judgment given by a lower court.

“So, the Court of Appeal, Abuja, today has just said that execution of the judgment has been stayed pending the outcome of the appeal, which has been filed at the Supreme Court by Aminu Baba DanAgundi on behalf of Bayero,” Dederi noted.

It would be recalled that on January 10, 2025, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, led by Justice Mustapha, set aside the judgment of Justice A. Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano, which nullified the steps and actions taken by the Kano State Government pursuant to the Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Law 2024, including the appointment of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano.

The Appellate Court also dismissed the decision of the Federal High Court judge to hear the matter relating to the emirate council, ruling that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to do so. This decision upheld the removal of Bayero as the 15th Emir.

Dissatisfied with the verdict of Justice Mustapha’s panel, DanAgundi proceeded to the Supreme Court to seek the overturning of the lower court’s verdict. He also filed a motion for a stay of execution of Justice Mustapha’s judgment pending the hearing and determination of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the matter.

The application was also moved on the grounds that the applicant initially instituted the suit in Kano to protect his fundamental rights and argued that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit.

In a unanimous ruling, the three-member panel of Justices led by Justice Abang on Friday held that the application was meritorious and deserving of the court’s discretion in the interest of justice.

“The law is settled. The court is enjoined to exercise its discretion judiciously and in the interest of justice,” Justice Abang said

Justice Abang held that the mandatory injunction ordered that the status quo ante bellum be maintained by the sheriff of this court and the trial court as it was before the trial court’s decision on 13/6/2024 in Suit No. FHC/KN/CS/182/2024.

In granting the injunction, Justice Abang emphasised that the applicant’s process was competent and had met all the necessary legal conditions required to obtain the relief sought.

He noted that a valid appeal was already pending before the Supreme Court, reinforcing the need to preserve the subject matter of the litigation.