When asked if he felt embittered against Peter Obi's popularity on social media, Sowore said, "This is the same narrative that I told you earlier. All these 'dem say, dem say,' can't you guys just come out and say this is how you feel? I don't have anything in common with Peter Obi. I do not crave his supporters.

A former African Action Congress presidential candidate, Mr Omoyele Sowore, has said he doesn't crave the support of ‘Obidient’ Movement, the supporters of Peter Obi, a former Labour Party presidential candidate.

The #RevolutionNow convener in a recent interview with Pulse Nigeria said he does not want supporters who will suppress and oppress people the way ‘Obidients’ do.

Mr. Sowore noted that if he had to have supporters who would lead him to victory to govern the country, he would not want them to be people who cannot question him or who will package him to the world as what he is not.


"If I had to have supporters in this world who would lead me to victory to govern this country, I don't want them to be people who cannot question me or who will package me to the world as what I am not. I don't want those kinds of supporters.

"I don't want supporters who will suppress and oppress people the same way these people are fighting our present people. I don't wish for supporters who would go to the extent of even arresting people because they say something they don't like on Facebook. I don't want those kinds of supporters. I don't want to be an ‘Obidient.’”

Speaking further, Sowore noted that “the word ‘Obidient’ in itself riles me that anybody would form an organisation that's obedient during the period of oppression”.

"It's like surrendering your sovereignty, in this case, your senses, to nonsense,” he added.

Stressing that he was not embittered against Obi, Sowore said, “Let me tell you, Femi Falana was defending the Labour Party during the same period we won our party back. We got a judgement that said the court cannot intervene in party matters, but it was not published.

"I was the one who gave Femi Falana a copy of our own, which was published, that they used in arguing against the people who wanted to ensure that Obi did not run in the 2023 election.

"That was what won them the case, and he became a candidate. Otherwise, he would never have become a candidate. I'm just telling you this, and I've said it publicly; they can't deny it.

"Femi Falana will tell you. You can call him, and he will tell you that's what happened. We gave them our party's judgement, made it available in the middle of the night, and they ran to court the next day and said there was a judgment from the Supreme Court.

"The judge ended that case right there based on that Supreme Court ruling, but at that point, it was unpublished.

"So, this is not the first time I will provide support to Obi. When Obasanjo tried to run him out of term in Anambra with Andy Uba, we were the same people who used Sahara Reporters to decode all their plans, which led to Obi being in office for eight years. I participated in that, and at the time, I thought Obi was genuine, but in subsequent years, I found that he was a fraud."

The Correspondent Chapel of the Kano State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has declared boycotting all activities related to the Kano State Government, effective immediately. 

This development followed an emergency congress meeting summoned by the Chairman of the chapel, Aminu Ahmed Garko, on Monday.

The outcome of the meeting attended by the correspondents was unanimously taken in response to the persistent and unacceptable maltreatment of members of the chapel in the state by the government and its agents while discharging their primary assignments.

The resolution reads: “Despite our efforts to engage with the government and its officials to address these issues, we have seen no improvement in the situation.

“Members of the chapel continue to face harassment, intimidation, and even physical assault while performing their duties.

“It is particularly concerning that the government has prioritized non-professionals over trained journalists, making it a state policy to sideline those who are best equipped to handle the job.

“As a result, we regret to announce that we will no longer participate in press conferences, cover government events, or conduct interviews with state officials until we see a tangible commitment to press freedom and the safety of journalists.”

The chapel urged all members to comply with this directive and join in the protest against the ill treatment of members in Kano State.

“We believe that a free and independent press is essential to a functioning democracy, and we will not stand idly by while our members are mistreated and intimidated,” the resolution concluded.

[DailyTrust]

The organised labour has vowed to reject any ₦62,000 or ₦100,000 minimum wage proposal for Nigerian workers by the federal government.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Monday, the Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chris Onyeka, described such a proposal as a “starvation wage”.

Onyeka insisted that labour won’t accept the latest government’s offer of ₦62,000, saying that its latest demand as the living wage for an average Nigerian worker remains ₦250,000.

He said, “Our position is very clear. We have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what we know can take Nigerian workers home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage.

“We have never contemplated ₦100,000, let alone ₦62,000. We are still at ₦250,000, that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation. We are not just driven by frivolities but the realities of the marketplace, realities of things we buy every day: a bag of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.”

Onyeka said the one-week grace period given to the Federal Government to review its proposal last Tuesday, June 4, 2024, would expire by midnight on Tuesday, June 11, 2024.

He said organised labour would meet to decide on the resumption of the nationwide industrial action if the Federal Government and National Assembly fail to act on workers’ demands by tomorrow.

He added, “The Federal Government and the National Assembly have the call now. It is not our call. Our demand is there for them (the government) to look at and send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, and for the National Assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various facts of the law, and then come up with a National Minimum Act that meets our demands.

“If that does not meet our demand, we have given the Federal Government a one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow (Tuesday). If after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the organised labour will meet to decide on what next.”

When asked what the decision of labour would be should the government insist on ₦62,000, he said, “It was clear what we said. We said we are relaxing a nationwide indefinite strike. It’s like putting a pause on it. So, if you put a pause on something and that organs that govern us as trade unions decide that we should remove that pause, it means that we go back to what was in existence before.”

Minimum wage talks

After weeks of failed talks on a new minimum wage for workers in the country, organised labour, comprising the NLC and TUC, embarked on a nationwide strike last Monday to demand a new wage and the reversal of the electricity tariff hike.

The labour unions said the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 can no longer cater to the well-being of an average Nigerian worker, saying the government should offer workers something economically realistic in tandem with current inflationary pressures.

However, the labour leadership suspended the strike for five days after signing a commitment with the Federal Government to resume negotiations and come up with a new minimum wage within a week.

The suspension of the strike followed a six-hour meeting between the leadership of labour and the National Assembly in Abuja, on Monday night.

To fast-track the talks, the President, last Tuesday, directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present the cost implications for a new minimum wage within two days.

Tinubu also directed the government representatives to work collectively with the organised private sector and the sub-nationals to achieve a new affordable wage award for Nigerians.

On Thursday, the finance minister presented the cost implications of implementing a new national minimum wage to Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, alongside the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu.

Before the directive, the minister described the proposal made by organised labour as “unaffordable. Also, the 36 state governors said labour union demand was not sustainable.

However, on Friday, June 7, 2024, labour and the government failed to reach an agreement. While labour dropped its demand again from ₦494,000 to ₦250,000, the government added ₦2,000 to its initial ₦60,000 and offered workers ₦62,000.

Both sides submitted their reports to the President, who is expected to make a decision and send an executive bill to the National Assembly to pass a new minimum wage bill, which the president will then sign into law.

[Punch]

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has secured a seven-year conviction for Quadri Adeyinka, a staff member of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

The convict was said to have committed a travelling passport fraud.

In a statement on Monday, Demola Bakare, spokesperson for the ICPC, said the convict was arraigned before Jude Onwuegbuzie, a high court judge in Abuja, on a four-count charge bordering on gratification, conferment of corrupt advantage, and cheating.

Bakare said the offence contravened the provisions of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act of 2000 and the Penal Code Act.

The spokesperson said Osuobeni Akponimisingha, counsel to the ICPC, led evidence before the court on how Adeyinka defrauded Ovie Ojeffia under the pretence of regularising his international passport.

He said that the convict received the sum of ₦100,000 from Ojeffia to regularise her passport but reneged.

Bakare added that the victim later petitioned the ICPC, which led to the investigation and arraignment of the convict before the court.

Onwuegbuzie, who found Adeyinka guilty on all four counts, sentenced him to seven years imprisonment each for counts 1 and 2, five years for count 4, and two years for count 3.

The sentences are to run simultaneously.

[TheCable]