Buhari begs Igbos to forgive Oba of Lagos

The President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has urged the Ndigbo and other non-indigenes in Lagos State to forgive all that has been said against them and move on for the sake of peace.

Buhari said this during a rally in Lagos to address the comments made by the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu.

Akiolu has been under fire since Monday when he reportedly threatened the Ndigbo in Lagos to either vote for the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, or perish in the lagoon.

The Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday asked Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola to suspend Akiolu forthwith.

However, the President-elect described Lagos as home for all, adding that the time had come for Nigerians to look past ethnicity in the general interest of peace and unity.

He said, “I admire what your governor has done in terms of mobilising revenue to sustain Lagos development. I have a lot of respect for Governor Fashola for his hard work, commitment to the state and the country. There is no doubt that Lagos is a mini-Nigeria. We are all here and it has been mentioned by previous speakers that everybody (tribe) is adequately represented in Lagos.

“So, I assure you. If you vote for the continuity of APC in Lagos, you stand to gain more. It is in your interest that you vote for the APC.

“Please when you go home tell your neighbours, relatives and even the opposition to please bury the hatchet. Let them fall in line and vote the APC.

“When we were coming in our bus, Fashola told me how Lagos State had been spending to maintain the federal infrastructure here such as buildings, roads and other institutions. I had promised before that if I won the election and became the President, I would make Lagos my priority. Governor Fashola is already holding to me to that promise so I would like the incoming governor to listen carefully and make sure he makes me honour my undertaking.”

The National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said Lagos was responsible for building the opposition and ensuring that it finally took control of the centre.

He said it would be a great injustice for Lagos to become an opposition state after working so hard to build a bright future.

Akinolu can’t speak for APC –Tinubu

Also speaking, a former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, said Akiolu was not a member of the APC and could not speak on behalf of the party.

Tinubu, who noted that he was the first Yoruba governor to ever appoint an Igbo commissioner, said the Peoples Democratic Party, having failed to win last week’s presidential elections, had been desperately trying to pull the APC into the Akiolu controversy.

He said the coordinator of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, Ifeanyi Ubah, and the PDP leader, Bode George, were only making baseless accusations against the APC.

Tinubu said, “The Oba is not a politician. His job is to accommodate all political parties whether PDP, APC or SDP. So, what did he (Ubah) go and do at the palace? Is the Oba a politician?

“To you Igbo, don’t we pay your children’s school fees like others? Or is it the palace that pays for it? When we conducted an exam and a spelling competition, an Igbo boy, Ebuka, from Anambra, came first and he became the governor for one day.

“Those that won the competition three times in a row were Igbo. Ebuka was sent to Switzerland computer school and then Obafemi Awolowo University. We did not say he was an Igbo boy and he would not enjoy. He became an executive in Oando and he is now in Canada.

“Another boy, Felix, won and went to Switzerland and OAU. We paid his scholarship; we did not deny him because he is Igbo.”

‘Suspend him now’

But the PDP said the Lagos monarch should be on suspension till after Saturday’s governorship and state House of Assembly elections in order to guarantee free, fair and credible elections in the state.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by Lagos PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Taofik Gani, the party said it had also alerted the security agencies to hold the monarch responsible for any attack on non-indigenes or PDP members in Lagos.

The statement read in part, “The governor is thus a conspirator in this threat to life and must also be held accountable for any violence in these elections. We have at this point been vindicated about the desperation of the APC to retain Lagos State at all cost, including the All Progressives Congress’ plan not to concede the imminent defeat on April 11.

“The positions of the PDP are coming on the heels of the now viral threat issued by the Oba of Lagos to Ndigbo that they must vote for the APC governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode, or be drowned in Lagos water.”

Despite the alleged threat to their lives, PDP urged Lagos non-indigenes and others to be part of Saturday’s voting exercise.

Monarch spoke out of anger –APC

Meanwhile, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Lagos State, Joe Igbokwe, said in a separate statement on Tuesday that the monarch spoke out of anger.

Igbokwe urged his kinsmen not to take out their anger on the APC governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, who knew nothing about the incident.

The statement read, “Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos is not a card-carrying member of APC. He is not a leader in the APC. He does not speak for the APC. He did not speak for Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State.

“He did not speak for our national leader, Bola Tinubu. He did not speak for the incoming governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode. His Royal Highness is at liberty to speak for him and he spoke for himself only.

“Lagos APC appeals to Ndigbo not to take the statement as the position of the party in Lagos. We passionately appeal to Ndigbo not to carry the statement credited to Oba Akiolu too far so as not to put a knife on things that have held us together for more than 50 years now. If out of annoyance you throw your cap away, a mad man will take it and use it forever.”

Buhari begs Igbos to forgive Oba of Lagos

Fani-Kayode, Bode George, others lambasts Oba of Lagos over comment

The leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos, Chief Bode George, has berated the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, for allegedly threatening Igbo people to vote for the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, or face death.

Chief Bode George

George said this at a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday which was attended by a former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe; the PDP Chairman in the state, Tunji Shelle; and other party leaders.

George said it was unfortunate that Akiolu had openly taken sides with a political party. He urged the monarch to relinquish his crown and go into partisan politics if he could not remain neutral.

He said, “The Oba of Lagos is my friend but we belong to different political parties. I was shell-shocked when I heard the comments by my friend telling our Igbo brothers – because they decided who to vote for PDP – that he would curse them to run into the Lagos lagoon. By the grace of God that will never happen.

“He said he owns Lagos. There is a need to draw a line between who a kabiyesi is and who a governor is. Thekabiyesi is a traditional ruler and father of all. If he wants to play politics like some of us, he should leave that throne, come out and meet us on the field.

“We should not denigrate that office and use it as a political platform to deride other parties.”

Also speaking, Ogunlewe said the PDP decided to give Igbo House of Representatives and House of Assembly tickets because the party had accepted them as Lagosians.

Ogunlewe said now that three non-indigenes have won seats in the National Assembly, Igbo in Lagos would have better representation. He, therefore, urged them not to be threatened by Akiolu and come out to vote for Jimi Agbaje on Saturday.

A PDP member, Mr. Oghene Egboh, who recently won the Amuwo Odofin federal constituency election, said many non-indigenes were being attacked by APC supporters because of their support for the PDP.

In a separate statement, the Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, described as unacceptable the alleged threat by Akiolu.

Fani-Kayode, in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, said many of President Goodluck Jonathan’s supporters in the North received similar threats before the March 28 election.

He, however, urged the APC to call its supporters to order as no party had a monopoly of violence.

He said, “The truth is that we were threatened with ethnic cleansing and religious carnage in the North had Gen. Muhammadu Buhari not won the presidential election on March 28 and had President Goodluck Jonathan not quickly conceded defeat.

“We let that go and kept the peace but now our traditional supporters are being threatened in Lagos and in many other states as we approach the April 11 governorship elections.

“Let it be clearly understood by all and sundry that any attempt to kill, maim or molest our supporters will be deemed unacceptable and will be met with defiance, contempt and a well-orchestrated and solid resistance.”

He called on the non-indigenes in Lagos to ignore the monarch and come out en masse to vote for Agbaje on Saturday.

Also, the Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria has called on Akiolu to withdraw the curse he allegedly placed on Igbo over Saturday’s governorship election in Lagos State.

The CCFN said the Lagos monarch’s utterances amounted to threat and intimidation.

It said that it understood Akiolu’s fear of losing the city to strangers but that Lagos has been one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Africa for decades “and any citizen contributing to its economy and politics can be a bonafide resident.”

The CCFN, an organ of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, in a statement by its Executive Secretary, Rev. Fr. Evaristus Bassey, condemned Akiolu’s comments, saying the monarch missed the point because “Nigeria is a republic and a democracy and not a monarchy.”

In his reaction, Akiolu denied saying Igbo who vote against Ambode, will die in the lagoon.

Akiolu, in a statement by one of his white cap chiefs, Lateef Aderibigbe Ajose, who is the Opeluwa of Lagos, said the words of the monarch were taken out of context.

The statement read, “My attention has been drawn to a publication in a national newspaper where Oba Riliwan Akiolu was alleged to have threatened Igbos in Lagos to make them vote for Ambode.

“Last Sunday, all honorary Eze Ndigbos in Lagos paid a courtesy call to Oba Akiolu. At the meeting the visitors praised the oba for his fatherly support for and cooperation with Igbo in Lagos. They assured him of their continued good neighbourliness with other tribes in Lagos and support everything that’ll further strengthen that harmony.

“The oba thereafter called on the Igbo chiefs to show appreciation to Lagos State by supporting his candidate, Mr. Ambode, for continuity of excellence as they had earlier promised.”

The statement added that Akiolu said whoever works against the interest of Lagos would end up in the lagoon in line with tradition.

The statement added that the issue of ‘lagoon’ was expressed in proverbial terms.

Fani-Kayode, Bode George, others lambasts Oba of Lagos over comment

Oba of Lagos makes clarification on ‘his threat to Igbos’

Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, has reacted to his alleged threat to Igbos in Lagos to vote the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Akinwunmi Ambode or die in the lagoon.

Read the statement below

Buhari Oba Akiolu Lagos

THE PALACE MAKES FURTHER CLARIFICATION ON THE STATEMENT BY THE OBA OF LAGOS.

My attention has been drawn to a publication in a national newspaper where HRM Oba Riliwanu Akinolu was alleged to have threatened Igbos in Lagos to make them vote for Ambode.

Last Sunday, all honorary Eze Ndigbos in Lagos paid a courtesy call to HRM Oba Akinolu. At the meeting the visitors praised the Oba for his fatherly support for and cooperation with Igbos in. Lagos. They assured him of their continued good neighborliness with other tribes in Lagos and support everything that’ll further strengthen that harmony.

Oba Akiolu on his part acknowledged the enviable performance of Governor Fashola and his contribution to the growth of INVESTMENTS in Lagos. He gave the assurance that he is not disturbed or angry with South-East and South- South votes for President Jonathan as perceived by the Eze Ndigbos. The Obas thereafter called on the Igbos chiefs to show appreciation to Lagos State by supporting his candidate Mr. Ambode for continuity of excellence as they have earlier promised.

He assured them of his continued support and assistance where needed and the meeting ended with the traditional breaking of kolas, alligator pepper, and bitter kola and pouring of liberation on the ground. It was within this context that that the tradition of Lagos with regard to the lagoon came up. It was noted that whoever works against the throne and the interest and peaceful co-existence of Lagos would end up in the lagoon as per tradition.

2.Oba Akiolu stated further that the Igbo people have not betrayed the throne. Lagos has also not betrayed the Igbo people. Lagos has done so much to make the Igbos comfortable and to prosper. For this, we expect reciprocal respect and understanding. The Oba of Lagos prays that the Lagoon and the throne will continue to bless and protect all those who reside and visit Lagos.

3. Oba Akiolu is the father of all irrespective of tribe, religion or political persuasion. In Lagos, we have an old traditional proverb that relates to the Lagoon. The Lagoon is unique to Lagos. The proverb stresses the need for unity and understanding when you do business in an environment and in this case when you live and do business in Lagos.

Oba Akiolu prays for peace for the land of Lagos and prosperity for all its inhabitants.

Signed: Chief Lateef Aderibigbe Ajose, Opeluwa of Lagos

April 6, 2015

 

Oba of Lagos makes clarification on ‘his threat to Igbos’