Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday described a former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, as a hypocrite for describing him (Obasanjo) as the leader of the opposition PDP in the South West.
Olusegun Obasanjo
Mr. Obasanjo said he left partisan politics for good.
Mr. Obasanjo was reacting to Mr. Okupe’s comments that he (Obasanjo) remained the “undisputed and authentic” leader of the PDP in the Southwest region of Nigeria.
Mr. Okupe, a former aide to Mr. Obasanjo, who made the disclosure on his Facebook account last Friday, also blasted Buruji Kashamu, a senator, who lays claim to being the leader of the PDP in the South West.
The former presidential aide said it was wrong to describe Mr. Kashamu leader of the party merely because he runs a local non-governmental organisation in Ogun State.
“Senator Buruji Kashamu is not the leader of the PDP in the South West. He is not even the leader of the party in Ogun State. He leads an NGO called Omo Ilu which engages in empowerment programmes in the state, mainly in the Ogun East Senatorial district.
“Baba Obasanjo still remains the undisputed and authentic leader of the PDP in the South-West. The fact that he tore his membership card is not tantamount to resignation from the party. An action he has not undertaken to date.
“Tearing of the membership card though a very negative action is undoubtedly a knee-jerk reaction to certain unacceptable or intolerable happenings within the party which can and will be redressed,” Mr. Okupe said.
However, Mr. Obasanjo, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES exclusively on Tuesday over the telephone said Mr. Okupe “does not know what he was saying”.
The former president said he did not apply to join the PDP in 1998, rather, what was given to him was a registration card and his decision to tear the card meant he was no longer a member of the party.
He also said there was no way he could be referred to as a leader of the party in the South West even if he was still a member.
“I was a national leader of the party for eight years, so, how would I now reduce myself to becoming its leader in the South West,” he said.
Mr. Obasanjo also said Mr. Okupe should be ignored because he was one of those who campaigned for his his expulsion from the party.
A former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of pursuing a selective war against corruption and ignoring the rule of law.
Doyin Okupe
According to Okupe, recent developments including the arrest of the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, is making the President to lose respect.
“Buhari is respected but with the hounding of opposition members, he is losing respect in the eyes of the international community. This selective probe is eroding his integrity,” He told our correspondent in a telephone interview.
Okupe condemned Metuh’s detention, insisting that the PDP sourced and utilised its campaign funds the same way the All Progressives Congress did.
He said, “The Federal Government should not try to dabble into or control the finances of the PDP. The way and manner the ruling party is undertaking its selective probe by hounding opposition leaders is unbecoming and very disheartening.
“Party finances are not the business of the government. The former National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, cannot deny that he didn’t collect money for campaigns during the last elections.
“Why is the Federal Government not asking questions on the sources of the APC’s campaign funds? The way the PDP spent billions of naira to fund its campaigns in the media was the same way the APC did theirs? Where did the APC get its campaign funds from? The opposition must be given the liberty to thrive.”
Reacting to an allegation that a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, benefited from the $2.1bn arms funds, Okupe said the former minister merely provided a service to the PDP during the electioneering and should not be questioned.
Okupe urged the President to be tolerant of criticism even as he condemned a statement credited to the National Chairman of the APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, in which the APC chair asked Nigerians not to abuse Buhari.
He advised Buhari to emulate Jonathan who he said was insulted by many leaders of the opposition but never retaliated.
Fani-Kayode had said on Wednesday that the All Progressives Congress spent more than the Peoples Democratic Party which was in power during the last general elections.
Fani-Kayode, who was the spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, made the claim while reacting to the probe of some key officials of the PDP by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
He said, “No election campaign anywhere in the world, including that of President Buhari was run with just words, goodwill, grass and pebbles and neither were we given free campaign adverts or airtime. All these things were run and paid for with large sums of money.
“This is especially so with publicity and media because that was the lifeblood of the various campaigns. I repeat, there is nothing that we did in the campaign organisation or that my directorate did that Lai Mohammed, Buhari and the APC did not do in theirs.
‘As a matter of fact, they spent far more than we did but I have no idea where they got their money and whether they were private or public funds.”
The ex-minister also denied reports that he collected N1.7bn from the embattled former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
A former presidential spokesperson, Doyin Okupe, has lashed out at those criticising Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Nigerian President, over his Christmas Day message on Twitter.
Doyin Okupe
Mr. Adesina had tweeted Friday morning, “Merry Christmas to all, including the Wailing Wailers,” a message that sparked fury and negative reactions among many of his followers.
The criticism that followed was so intense that Mr. Adesina trended on Twitter for most of the day.
But Mr. Okupe, who was initially thought to be deeply critical of Mr. Adesina and the present administration, rose in fierce defence of the presidential adviser.
I am not an apologist of this administration neither am I a supporter. The post by femi adesina this morning is… https://t.co/nlyZyf5MWH
In a post on his Facebook page, Mr. Okupe said Mr. Adesina’s comment was “totally harmless” and that the condemnation that trailed it was unnecessary.
He described those criticising the presidential adviser as “intemperate and over sensitive” people digging “for faults and loopholes to bring down people in public offices”.Mr. Okupe said, “I am not an apologist of this administration neither am I a supporter.
“The post by Femi Adesina this morning is totally harmless and does not deserve the vitriolic attack or condemnation that it seems to be getting.
“I have not spoken to Femi but I know he included ‘including the wailing wailers’ just as a form of anecdote that is not unusual with writers.
“Many people on the social media network are too intemperate and over sensitive.
“They look out for faults and loopholes to bring down people in public offices.
“They also set up unrealistic and sometimes practically impossible moral grounds which they themselves cannot keep for public officers.
“I know for a fact that people like me are supposed to be the ‘wailing wailers’ and we are not angry neither do we feel insulted by this otherwise humorous Xmas greetings.
“On behalf of the wailers we salute Femi and thank him for this inconclusive Xmas felicitation.”
A former Senior Special Assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, says he prays that the All Progressives Congress does not break up due to its friction with Senate President Bukola Saraki.
Okupe, who was a staunch critic of the APC during the last electioneering, said although he remained a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, anything that affects the APC will affect Nigeria as a whole.
Okupe said this in a Facebook post on Thursday.
He warned that the trial of Saraki at the Code of Conduct Trial over alleged corruption could lead to a national tragedy.
He said, “I did in the past predict that the APC will break up, but that was before the APC formed the government. Now that they are in government, it is not in my interest or that of any reasonable or patriotic Nigerian to wish that they break up.
“A break up of the APC now has the capacity to undermine the current political process and the entire political dispensation we are passing through to the detriment of the country and the innocent masses.
“But what is currently going on is ominous and dangerous and will require wisdom and extreme tact from all the dramatis personae, remembering always that an ill wind does not blow anyone any good.”
Okupe said such a crisis was what usually led to coups in the past.
He, however, argued that Nigerians should not see the trial of Saraki as a ‘soap opera’ but as a bad omen for democracy.
He added, “To ordinary watchers of Nigerian politics, the ongoing ordeal of the Senate President may be an interesting soap opera. But to more discerning minds, it is nothing short of a tragic comedy.
“Over the years, Nigerian politicians fail over and over again to convince anybody that they actually learnt anything from our chequered political history. This is why we have had many republics in our national history.
“Winston Churchill said the failure to act when action would have been simple and effective, lack of good reasoning, and confusion of counsel, all these lead to endless repetition of history.”
The former presidential spokesman said he was not a friend of Saraki because he (Saraki) dumped the PDP in 2014 and contributed to the failure of the party during the last elections.
He, therefore, noted that he was in no way protecting Saraki but the overall interest of Nigerians
He said, “I am personally not a supporter of Dr. Saraki and for good reason. He spearheaded the demolition of the PDP and the eventual catastrophic electoral misfortune of the Goodluck Jonathan presidency. Neither am I a detractor of the Senate President.”
The Senior Special Assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, says the Peoples Democratic Party may soon die.
Doyin Okupe
The former presidential spokesman said the PDP might go into extinction soon except the party undergoes a complete overhaul.
Okupe said this in a Facebook post on Thursday.
He commended the PDP for the formation of a body headed by Chief Raymond Dokpesi to increase its membership.
He, however, stressed that the PDP must embark on a complete overhaul if it must remain relevant in the next four years.
He said, “The time has come for the PDP, if it must remain politically relevant, to embark on a total overhaul and reform itself. It must engage Nigerians in a new coalition for the sole purpose of putting our dear country on the path to true, real and the enduring change that will, once and for, all establish us as a major global player, not pretenders that we presently are.
“The PDP must reform lest it dies, God forbids, a painful and insidious death.”
Okupe said he feared that the PDP might soon die due to its declining acceptability.
He, however, said the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government had been able to twist the minds of Nigerians such that the PDP appeared as a corrupt party.
He noted that overtime, Nigerians would see that the APC and the PDP are the same.
He said, “The party (PDP) has suffered very serious bashing from the sustained avalanche of assaults from the gigantic propaganda machinery of the now ruling party — the APC.
“The credibility of the party as a veritable political alternative to the APC has been nearly irreparably damaged. Some of the recent disclosures and more that may come up from the impending probes will further damage the national acceptability of the party.
“At the end of the day, the APC may not meet the expectations of Nigerians or may, in fact, fail outright over time but the PDP, as it is presently constituted, will not be an acceptable alternative to the majority of Nigerians now or in the future.”
Okupe, who was one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s biggest critics during the run-up to the last presidential election, said both the APC and the PDP lacked ideologies and proper leaders.
He said while the PDP was created as a coalition to wrest power from the military, the APC was a merger of several interest groups set up to wrest power from the PDP.
The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, has said Nigerians misunderstood the President’s calmness for indecisiveness.
Okupe, on his facebook page on Sunday, said “In a few days, President Jonathan will bow out of office gracefully and graciously.
“President Jonathan has done well and served his country well. He exits office as a great President; perhaps Nigeria’s greatest President for all times. Greater than the best before him. He excelled in achievements, in humility, tranquility and simplicity.
“Nigerians misunderstood meekness for weakness, Restraint for lack of strength, reticence for inaction and calmness for indecisiveness.”
Okupe said that history would judge Jonathan differently, adding that he(Jonathan) would “be remembered as a great man, a good man, humble and humane, purposeful and focused. A great African hero who fought against all manners of evil and conspiracies: Religious, ethnic, national and international, and lost the war.
“But ultimately, he triumphed because of the inherent goodness that God Almighty deposited in Him.”
The presidential aide urged Nigerians not to weep for Jonathan but “rather pray that our nation will remain, united and stable; that its people will prosper and that God will guide our incoming leaders.”
Despite crashing out of the Presidential race to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari, a Senior Special Assistant to the President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe has reteirated his stand on the now President-elect’s educational qualification.
Okupe took to his Facebook wall to express his anger towards Nigerians who have continued to drag the name of the Presidency, particularly, President Jonathan to the mud despite conceding defeat in the last general election.
Okupe accused the media of pepetrating lies against his boss, his aids and supporters.
His statement may not be unconnected to the last published article by Punch Newspaper about the amount of money spent by the Presidency on the March 28 election campaign.
Punch Newspaper in his publication had said Jonathan spent N2 trillion on his election campaign, adding that he is now requesting from those who didn’t spend the allocated money in full to return it.
Responding to the accusation, Okupe said “These are very interesting times in our nation. An election has come and gone. A victor has emerged and the loser has conceded. Yet some of our folks are behaving as if we have just gone through a war between two hostile nations.Apc agents all over the place are unrelenting in their tirades of abuses, insults and lies against President Jonathan, his aides and supporters.
“It is shameful that we are still saddled with denying falsehood & fabrications in the social media and even hither to highly respected Newspapers.
Missing $20b found in an account in zenith PGEJ returns tons of dollars to federation accounts. N2trillion spent on elections by PGEJ. Okupe says chibok girls will not be found.
How many lies, deliberate falsehood and evil propaganda, outright curses and attacks must we suffer just because we lost an election in which we were never disgraced.
“Buhari polled 15m(56%) while Jonathan scored 12m (46%). Those who talk to us disparagingly should respect the sentiments of the 12 million who voted for Jonathan.
“Of course we have our reservations about the results but we will pass on that for now. We have lost this election but this is not and can never be a crime. We are all Nigerians and haven lost does not make us less. We should be allowed to bow out peacefully and constitutionally on the 29th of May.
“Yes I said buhari was not electable. I also said his victory will not happen. I said and I Still insist that buhari has no WAS certificate. I said a lot of things to promote my candidate and many things to put his opponent down.
“I have no regrets for any of the statements I made. Law Mohammed said worse. This is the nature of politics.
For any one who cares to listen. We will be back Period.”
Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Mr. Doyin Okupe has said that President’s failure to secure second term was a grand conspiracy from the kidnapping of the Chibok girls, international conspiracy to BBOG secret mission.
Okupe advised Nigerians to dialogue with the incoming administration to employ a different approach in finding the missing girls.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page on Saturday, Mr. Doyin said “One of the reasons the chibok girls were kidnapped was to present Jonathan’s administration as incompetent and hold it to ransom against 2015 elections.
“One of the reasons the BBOG was formed was to sustain and internationalise the embarrassment.
“One of the reasons President Jonathan lost the election was a national and international conspiracy predicated on this carefully choreographed and assiduously sustained perception.
“One of the issues that will be in the hand over notes will be the missing girls.
“What is reasonable and expedient for well meaning men and women of good conscience is to dialogue with the incoming administration on what best new approach to employ to find and rescue the chibok girls.
“Not much can be achieved, except mischief, by continuing to flog this administration on this matter.”
Almost former Senior Special Assistant to the outgoing President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe has responded to a wide spread speculation that he called himself a bastard if the All Progressives Congress (APC) survived.
Responding on Saturday, Doyin said he never asked Nigeians to call him a bastard but promised to change his name.
Though he hasn’t, he defended his statement that the right of changing his name is his.
He said “Firstly I never said if APC survives “call me a bastard” what I said was that ” I will change my name” that is the truth. So the prerogative of changing my name is mine. Bastard is not an alternative. But u can continue to say that if it gives u the kick. I really and truly don’t care.
“Secondly if I make a prediction it is my right to do so. A prediction is essentially what it is… A forecast or projected statement about the future. It does not have to come to pass.
“The Almighty CIA predicted Nigeria will break up after 2015 elections. It took the Godliness and intrinsic humaneness of one man to stop that prediction.
“Whatever it is you guys have won an election that was keenly contested yet you are not satisfied. 12m Nigerians voted for Jonathan while 15m for Buhari. This is nothing to be ashamed of.
“We are politicians and in our business we are at liberty to use whatever lawful means we have to try and discourage or put our opponents down. This is why when the game is over we down tools and joke with each others again.
“Only inexperienced rascals and ill bred effusively emotive or misguided individuals will carry on as if a war has just been won or lost. It was not a war it was a game. Please cool your temper. Life goes on.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Nigerian President on Public Affairs. Dr. Doyin Okupe has said that right from the beginning of his political career, presidential candidates he had supported won, and President Jonathan’s case will not be different.
Doyin Okupe
Okupe, who expressed his position on his page said those opposing his views have few weeks more to enjoy and have fun as their hope will be dashed when Jonathan returned to office.
He wondered why people are angry that he is defending his master, revealing that his enemies have increased as he openly stand to defend what he believes in.
He said “All those who abuse and insult us because we hold views and opinions different from theirs and because we defend and stand by our candidate as opposed to theirs, have just a few more weeks to enjoy & have fun at our expense.
“Personally I am totally unmoved by the avalanche of undignified assaults on my person. I have never been reluctant to take unpopular positions or support candidates that many oppose. In all my political career spanning nearly three decades I have always had the last laugh and this will not be different.
“In 1979 I was 27yrs old and lived in lagos but as young as I was I was far in the vanguard of the noticeable supporters of shehu shagari candidate of NPN. My family house in ebute metta was nearly burnt down but for prompt intervention of the mobile police. Shagari won I was one of the very few early vocal supporters
of Gen Obasanjo.Even my family members castigated me. Obasanjo won. In 2011 in my political group in ogun state I was the only supporter of Goodluck Jonathan initially. Jonathan Won.
“In this season the number of enemies have increased in their thousands because I am unrelenting in my stout, robust and sometimes aggressive defence of Goodluck Jonathan. I often wonder when folks are angry that I defend my principal or that I take on and confront those who insult and disresoect the President.
“I truly have no appologies for my actions and deeds concerning these unrepentant and vicious adversaries.
For those who care to listen and hear what our God is saying ; Jonathan will win again.
“You may deride, abuse, insult from now till march 28th. We will laugh last. While you disparage us publicly we will go on our knees and plead with the only one who gives power to whom He wishes to honour his word to us as our Trust is not in men money or power but in Him who rules over the earth and controls the hearts of all men.”
A Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Mr. Doyin Okupe has released his prediction for the forthcoming Presidential election.
According to the aide, an elaborate opinion poll was conducted in the southwest by an independent body among registered voters. The result he said, is very closed to the one he has predicted.
Below is Doyin’s prediction. He said Jonathan will win with the below percentages in various states in the country.
Sokoto 40%
Kebbi 40%
Zamfara 45-50%
Kano 40%
Kaduna 50%
Katsina 25%
Jigawa 60%
Bauchi 25%
Gombe 40%
Yobe 20%
Borno 50%
Adamawa 60%
Taraba 70%
Kwara 50%
Kogi 70%
Niger 35%
Nasarawa 50%
Kaduna 50%
Plataeu 70%
Benue 60%
Abia 80%
Anambra 80%
Enugu 80%
Imo 70%
Ebonyi 80%
Akwa ibom 80%
C/rivers 80%
Rivers 65%
Edo 70%
Delta 80%
Bayelsa 80%
Lagos 60%
Ogun 60%
Oyo 60%
Osun 40%
Ondo 60%
Ekiti 70%
With 60-65% voters turn out, President Jonathan will win the popular votes of between 2 to 4m votes.
The residential adie said “In my Local Government Area less than 15% use the internet.> 20% read newspapers 40% vote on party lines. Mjority influenced by other factors, money, leaders etc
With the recent outburst of Dr. Doyin Okupe, a former medical doctor turned political jobber, that has been given undue attention by many concerned Nigerians globally, I believe it is time for us to ignore this uncouth and untrained media spokesperson representing the government of Nigeria.
Doyin Okupe
Dr. Okupe is not aware that the government of Nigeria is not just about his political party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) but about the nation and her people.
Nigeria, with a population of over 170 million people should not be taken for granted and be misinformed by one individual like Dr. Okupe who has no credibility to speak on behalf of the government.
Since Dr. Okupe has simply and confidently asked us to call him a bastard, we should let it be and move on to discuss issues relevant to the development of our nation.
We expect the leading political parties to come up with their manifestos to convince the people of Nigeria to vote them into the seat of government and they should stop the ongoing senseless campaign of lies and insults.
None of the political parties has told us how the issue of electricity will be solved, how to tackle unemployment, insecurity, balance of budget, improve on the morale of our armed forces and the police, develop the technological potentials or boost our educational standard.
Many of the ministers in this present administration have been telling us about MoUs being signed and we are yet to witness any improvement in the lives of our people in those areas.
We have had accusations and counter accusations from the ministry of agriculture and no one can simply tell us the truth.
Billions of Naira have been allocated to the various federal ministries and agencies and we are yet to feel the impact of any development in comparison to what has been spent or unspent.
While most countries are spending heavily on solar and wind energy, Nigeria is still battling with 4000megawatts of energy and no one is telling us on what the way forward is.
No one has given us a clear direction on our foreign policy, no one has told us how we came about the huge deficit in our budget and when we are likely to come out of it.
We hear confusing stories and indications from the CBN and the most “powerful” minister in the world, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, asking us to trust them and that we should not be bothered about what we can all see as a global trend.
No one dares challenge their supreme intelligence and their position of authority as it seems that no Nigerian before now has the knowledge to say or do the right thing.
However, I must say that the president of this country, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was courageous to tell Nigerians recently that he’s sometime confused about the advices he gets from his team of advisers and friends.
Our take on this is very simple: Mr. President, sack all your fake advisers and friends, they are too many by the way, and restructure your team before your term ends. You can still achieve some good and you will be noted for that.
Mr. President, you can see that some of your ministers and advisers who did not clinch their tickets for the 2015 elections have left your party. That simply shows how confused and greedy they are. Needless to even imagine the sort of advices they must have given you!
Okupe has done more damage to your person as the leader of this government in his unprofessional way of handling your image and he should be sacked before it is too late. And please ask some of your so called fanatical admirers and friends like Femi Fani-Kayode to maintain a sense of humility like you do in their approach to launder your image.
Political leaders in Nigeria should not forget that the President of Nigeria is an African President, a Black Leader and a personality with higher responsibility. Therefore, we expect the likes of Lai Mohammed to refrain from insulting the president of this country and concentrate on more serious issues that will help us develop our nations.
We are still expecting the leading opposition party in Nigeria, All Progressive Party, APC to come out with genuine ideas on how the various issues raised above will be tackled and not just giving us a slogan of change.
Yes, we need a change and we also need capable people to tell us how this change will happen beyond a slogan for 2015.
Joe Femi-Dagunro is a member of Nigeria Beyond 2015 Group. He wrote in from Lagos
Dr Doyin Okupe is the Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan. Okupe, who was a guest at Vanguard corporate headquarters in Lagos, bares his mind on burning national issues including the decision by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to field General Muhammudu Buhari as its presidential standard bearer in 2015. Excerpts:
By Dapo Akinrefon and Charles Kumolu
So, how is the President?
Doyin Okupe
He is hale and hearty.
When is government finding the Chibok girls?
That is a very touchy issue, it is a very lamentable situation and an issue of profound national tragedy. It is not an issue of finding or when are we finding the girls. The media has gotten on the wrong side of it, it is not finding the Chibok girls. The real issue is that we are in a war situation and, at the beginning, I am not sure everybody accepted that situation.
Some people are waging a very serious war against Nigeria, nothing is worse than war. When you are in a war situation, anything happens. Murder, cold blooded murder, wanton destruction of properties, kidnapping, rape, you can name it. Even the best armies in the world commit such terrible atrocities.
So a war situation is a bad situation, that is why I said that it is not about finding the girls. When your are a war situation, all the things I have said can happen. The misfortune we have is that we had these girls taken away violently and it is extremely painful. A couple of days ago, I was reading that the American government made three attempts to rescue hostages and all without exception resulted in disaster, fatalities. The hostages were killed, the people that went to rescue them, some were killed. That is trying to rescue one hostage.
So, when you have over 200 hostages, it is bad business. The hostages are not kept in one place, which makes it more profound, so do not let us go into the sentimentality of when government will bring the girls back. We are in a war situation, it is a very dastardly circumstance, but when you are talking of safety of lives, you cannot put tenure to what you must endure, and that is why we must stop counting. It is unnecessary, it does not help us, it does not help the girls. It only encourages the insurgents and I don’t think that is the intention of anybody anywhere.
So, we are in a war situation, the girls are kept as hostages. The Nigerian Army does not lack the capacity to hit at a camp and destroy it. But then, you will be coming back with body bags of girls. Is that what you want?
If all these months and days, Boko Haram has not killed the girls and there is no information that the girls have been killed, it means there is a reason they are holding them. We are not going to encourage them or create a situation where the girls are going to be killed.
That is why government took a lot of effort and took the bait when Chad offered an olive branch; unfortunately, nothing came out of it. That shows you that government is caring; this government, even at the risk of its reputation, is willing to do anything possible to release the girls but we are in a war situation.
When did the government realise that we are in a war situation?
We have always known that we are in a war situation.
General Buhari has emerged as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and PDP stalwarts have been saying they know how to defeat him. There is also a contrary view that Buhari controls a formidable front. How do you see the Buhari challenge of President Jonathan in two months’ time?
Secondly, how do you react to the statement made by the APC Chairman that the party will form a parallel government if the election is rigged? How does the Presidency see that kind of threat?
The choice of APC or their decision to elect Buhari as their standard bearer, is a fatal error. I have been in this game for nearly 30 years or more. I understand this game of politics very well. Buhari is not a winner, will not win and has never won; and it is for a reason that he has never won.
The question you need to ask yourself and what APC should have asked themselves is that, why Buhari?.
Yes, the calculation that Buhari came with 12 million votes (in 2011) without other platforms; now, if you can deliver the entire of the South-west, that is another 20 million votes, you add it and he is going to win. Politics is not mathematics. Yes, Buhari may have had 12 million votes in 2011. But the Bola Tinubus of this world, in the course of showing their capabilities, have been bruised, they do not control the South-west and that is very clear. In actual fact, were it not because they have a lot of money, Buhari should have dumped them long ago because they cannot deliver. At the beginning of this year, maybe the calculation was still clear that they would deliver South-west.
Today, in the South-west, Ondo is not in the basket, Ekiti is not in the basket, Osun is neither here nor there, and I am saying that authoritatively. PDP gubernatorial candidate Omisore may still be the governor of Osun; but even if he does not become the governor of Osun, we have seen the results of the last gubernatorial election in the state. If that is something to go by, it is topsy turvy.
In Lagos State, just as they (APC) are clamouring for change at the national level, people at the grassroots are saying they are fed up with the nonsensical things that APC has been doing in the state.
So, the point I am trying to make is that theoretical calculation may be what has misled them into taking that decision; but it is unfortunate and regrettable and it is a fatal error.
Buhari, to me, is a non-issue. Buhari has only two things going for him. He has not improved himself since he left office; he has not added any value, personally to himself or to any political tendencies that he represents. He is a religious bigot and there is nothing he can do about that. He is not even a nationalist.
Some few days ago, some people came out to say that Buhari is the northern candidate. So, who is the southern candidate? I was telling you that there are two things going for him: one is his purported integrity, the other is his supposed incorruptibility. None of them can stand the test of time and I don’t want to go into details.
If a man says he went to buy a N27m form with a loan from his bank and it was alleged that it was a former governor who wrote a cheque to the party for him to get the form, is that integrity? Why do you need to lie? Buhari is trying to make poverty a virtue, but poverty is not a virtue.
The fact that Buhari has left office for so long and he says he is so poor, is nothing to celebrate; it is indolence and shameful. Is that a role model? Is that who you will want your children to be, a poor man? Indolence is not something we should celebrate. If a man like Buhari at his age says he is a poor person, that is too bad and it is also a deceit. That is not integrity.
Let me tell that the greatest problem this country has had is the military regime, so the representative of the things that we want to forget is the person you people are bringing back as president and you are saying you want change. Nigeria has not benefited from the past military regimes and one of the principal characters is Buhari. What change can he bring?
On APC’s threat of forming a parallel government
That is absolutely irresponsible. There is no basis for it in law. How do you determine an election that is rigged or not rigged. It is only a court of law that can pronounce that an election was rigged. Preparing to form a parallel government before an election, should not be taken serious. The person who started the discussion was Amaechi (Rivers State governor) and that should not be taken serious. Amacehi first made that statement and the party adopted it. It is an irresponsible statement.
On the position of the Inspector General of Police on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, and Obasanjo’s position that President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has not performed up to average
What I said on Obasanjo’s assessment on Jonathan was that the former president’s position was not true. We published it in the newspapers. That was all I did because I was employed to correct errors and misconceptions about the Presidency. I said that the statement was not true because it was not supported by facts. I was misunderstood on my position on the Speaker. What I said is that the duty of the police boss is to enforce the law.
We derive the law from our Constitution and the interpretation is done by the courts of law. In Plateau State, the Speaker of the House of Assembly and some people defected to another party and their seats were subsequently declared vacant by the court. Therefore what I am saying is logical. If you change your party and someone goes to court, that shows that there is a problem. A section of the Constitution says that anybody who changes his party without evidence of crisis in that party, would lose his seat.
The courts have interpreted that law and have maintained the position of the law. The job of the police is to carry out their job to ensure the enforcement of that law. After that judgement, if such thing happens again, the police have the right to ensure that the seat is vacated. Tambuwal has violated the law.
Despite the trillions of Naira that has been invested into the military, hunters are helping them to recapture some lost territories to Boko Haram in the North-east. Also there is no news on the budget and it looks as if the government is preoccupied with politics. What do you have to say?
The last time the military was kitted was during Shagari’s era. During the time of Obasanjo, some efforts were made to bring some equipment from China but that did not work. The military deliberately under-equipped its people because the military was preoccupied with its own security. It did not want its constituency to create problem. The last major procurement in the army was during Shagari’s era. A large part of the budget so far, is often dedicated to recurrent expenditure. Majority of the money you see in the budget, is for the upkeep of the personnel.
Security agencies were the ones that acquired intelligence gadgets, it was not the military. We had challenges in the military and government is doing its best to overcome these challenges. It is not wholesomely correct to say hunters are leading the fight for the recapturing of lost territories. Majority of the soldiers don’t know the terrain, so the hunters assist them. The needed fire power still comes from the Nigerian Army.
I don’t know why it is easier to believe that hunters who are using dane guns and arrows are the ones that are chasing the insurgents away. The military does not intend to take on anybody on this issue. They are rejigging their arrangement. In the last four weeks, virtually all the places that the insurgents had put their flags, have been taken over by the military. Peace has returned and most of the areas have been recovered from the insurgents.
On the budget
There is need to have some level of confidence in the government. There are many things that go on in government that is not available to the public. Oil is our major source of revenue and the prices are fluctuating almost on daily basis. Government can not budget on fluctuating price. It has to come to some reasonable figure which it will base the budget on. These are things that will take time. We have crisis at hand now and it will be unfair to say government is only concentrating on politics.
On right of first refusal
We are politicians and we want to win elections. Political parties are not formed for funfair. The majority in the party believe that Jonathan is the man that can win for us. It is our duty to tell the nation why we are backing the man. We have things that guide what we do and our preoccupation is to win election. And we have no apology for putting forward the best candidate that can win election for us. The two people who picked forms are not the people who can win elections for the PDP.
This is an enduring political party that has existed for 16 years with same ideology. The party has a pedigree and track record of wining elections. We don’t have time for charlatans. When a sitting president anywhere in the world indicates interest in running for second term, the party has the right to sympathize with him.
Don’t you think that the state of Apapa/Oshodi Expressway is in conflict with the achievements that this government is laying claim to? There is also so much problem in the power sector inspite of government reforms to make electricity available to the people.
Apapa Oshodi Expressway is less than 22 kilometres and about 65 percent of the road has been completed. The challenges being experienced by people now as a result of the ongoing construction is akin to sacrifice. Things will get better. The problem about power is that many things are not fully comprehended by people. Virtually the entire system has become archaic. Even if we were to generate more, we will not transmit effectively, because of distribution and transmission problems.
These problems have bedeviled us for 50 years and no government has attended to them. Now a gentleman has a road map to resolving the problem. It is inconceivable to expect a 50-year-old problem to be solved within four years. In four years, a lot has been achieved. One of the greatest achievements which is unsung, is the privatisation of the PHCN.
If it was not privatised, there is no way the problem would have been solved because government does not have the requisite resources to fund it. All over the world, power is mainly distributed by the private sector. We have meticulously done things top ensure that the power sector works. That is why about 20 billion dollars has come into the sector. Now we are generating 4,800 megawatts from the 2,000 that we inherited.
The DISCOs (distribution companies) are doing all they could to ensure that the situation becomes normal. Government has decided to pay the money that was being owed to the DISCOs. We are not where we were in 2007; we are not where we are supposed to be in 2014, but the advances that have been made in that sector are irreversible.
LAGOS — SENIOR Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has described the election of a former Head of State, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (retd), as presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as a fatal error.
Doyin Okupe
Okupe who dismissed Buhari’s electoral potentials during a courtesy visit to Vanguard’s corporate headquarters in Lagos, also dismissed criticisms against the administration’s capacity to uphold the nation’s territorial integrity.
He also urged the press to stop counting the number of days the militant Islamist Boko Haram group has held on to the more than 200 secondary school girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State
Okupe in the same vein blasted Buhari for not making much money in his life, saying that repeated reference to the former head of state as a poor man was not a morale-boosting virtue for younger Nigerians. He said a man who failed to make much out of life should not be enthroned with the nation’s collective destiny.
Buhari’s choice a fatal error
His words: ‘’The choice of APC or their decision to elect Buhari as their standard bearer, is a fatal error. I have been in this game for nearly 30 years or more. I understand this game of politics very well. Buhari is not a winner, has never won, and will not win; and it is for a reason that he has never won.
“The question you need to ask yourself and what APC should have asked themselves is: Why Buhari? The calculation is that Buhari came with 12 million votes on the strength of his showing in the last election. Now, if you can deliver the entire South-West, that is another 20 million votes, and other platforms, you add it and he is going to win.
“Politic is not mathematics. Yes, Buhari had 12 million votes. The Bola Tinubus of this world, in the course of showing their capabilities, have been bruised; they do not control the South-West and that is very clear. In actual fact, because they have a lot of money, Buhari should have dumped them long ago because they cannot deliver.
“At the beginning of this year, maybe the calculation was still clear that they would deliver South-West. Today in the South-West, Ondo is not in the basket, Ekiti is not in the basket, Osun State is neither here nor there and I am saying that authoritatively.
“Omisore may still be the governor of Osun but even if he does not become the governor of Osun State, we have seen the results of election in Osun State. If that is something to go by, it is topsy-turvy.’
“In Lagos State, just as they (APC) are clamouring for change at the national level, people at the grassroots are saying they are fed up of the nonsensical things that APC has been doing in the state.
“So, the point I am trying to make is that theoretical calculations may be what has misled them into taking that decision, but it is unfortunate and regrettable, and it is a fatal error.
Buhari is a non-issue
“Buhari, to me, is a non-issue. Buhari has only two things going for him. He has not improved himself since he left office; he has not added any value, personally to himself or to any political tendencies that he represents. He is a religious bigot and there is nothing he can do about that. He is not even a nationalist. Some few days ago, some people came out to say that Buhari is the northern candidate. So, who is the southern candidate?
“Buhari is trying to make poverty a virtue, but poverty is not a virtue. The fact that Buhari has left office for so long and he says he is so poor, is nothing to celebrate, it is indolence and shameful. Is that a role model? Is that who you will want your children to be, a poor man? Indolence is not something we should celebrate. If a man like Buhari at his age says he is a poor person, that is too bad and it is also a deceit. That is not integrity.”
On Chibok girls
On the Chibok girls, Okupe said: “That is a very touchy issue, it is a very lamentable situation and an issue of profound national tragedy. It is not an issue of finding or when are we finding the girls. The media has got on the wrong side of it.
“The real issue is that we are in a war situation and at the beginning, I am not sure that everybody accepted that situation. Some people are waging a very serious war against Nigeria, nothing is worse than war. When you are in a war situation, anything happens. Murder, cold blooded murder, wanton destruction of property, kidnapping, raping, you can name it. Even the best armies in the world commit such terrible atrocities. It is recorded in history.
“So, a war situation is a bad situation, that is why I said that it is not about finding the girls alone. When you are in a war situation, all the things I have said can happen. The misfortune we have is that we had these girls taken away violently and it is extremely painful.
We must stop counting
“When you have over 200 hostages, it is bad business. The hostages are not kept in one place, which makes it more profound. So, do not let us go into the sentimentality of when government will bring the girls back. We are in a war situation, it is a very dicey circumstance but when you are talking of safety of lives, you cannot put tenure to what you must endure, to save a life and that is why we must stop counting.
“It is unnecessary, it does not help us, it does not help the girls. If it helps anybody, it encourages the insurgents and I don’t think that is the intention of anybody anywhere.
“If all these months and days, Boko Haram has not killed the girls and there is no information that the girls have been killed, it means there is a reason they are holding them and they have not killed them.
“We are not going to encourage them or create a situation where the girls are going to be killed. That was why the government took a lot of effort and took the bait when Chad offered an olive branch, unfortunately, nothing came out of it.
“That shows you that government is caring, this government, even at the risk of its reputation, is willing to go and do anything possible to release the girls but we are in a war situation.”
The Presidency has said there is no part of the world where the President resigns during an ongoing war.
It therefore challenged the leadership of the All Progressives Congress to tell Nigerians where such presidents had resigned during war time.
Doyin Okupe
The Presidency was reacting to the demand by the leadership of the APC, including its National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, that President Goodluck Jonathan should resign because of the ongoing war against the country by the members of the Boko Haram sect.
Reacting on behalf of the President, his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, asked Nigerians to ignore such calls.
He said, “The suggestion by one of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Bola Tinubu, that President Goodluck Jonathan resign from office as a result of the activities of insurgents in the north eastern part of the country has once again shown beyond doubt that the former Lagos State Governor and his colleagues in the opposition are a bunch of political anarchists and charlatans blinded by an unbridled appetite for power.
“The assertion by Tinubu at a political rally in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Wednesday that in ‘civilised’ societies, the President should have resigned is unfounded and lacking in historical precedence.
“We challenge him to tell Nigerians which part of his ‘civilized’ world has there been a call on a President to resign during an on-going war.
“When terrorists attacked the United States of America in September, 2001, leaders of the Democratic Party did not demand a resignation of President George Bush but rather they rose in defence of the American Nation to support the various measures taken by the President to defeat the Al Qaeda terrorists.”
The government of President Goodluck Jonathan came on board totally unprepared for the insurgency ravaging some states in the North, the Presidency has said.
Doyin Okupe
Speaking at the public forum on the impact of the Jonathan administration on Tuesday in Abuja, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said those that were bent on rating the present government, based on the worsening state of insurgency in Nigeria, were wrong.
He said, “Somebody wants us to believe that the only testimony of performance of this administration is insecurity. (But) that’s not true. This government was totally unprepared for the insurgency. Nobody planned for insurgency. And yet insurgency is a serious problem on its own to contain. America, with all its power and resources, was in Iraq for up to about five or six years with over 400,000 soldiers put on ground and yet see Iraq the way it is today.”
He noted that it was a national misfortune that the Chibok girls were still held captive by the terrorists, stressing that the ceasefire agreement between the Federal Government and Boko Haram was at the instance of the sect.
He said, “Yes, a ceasefire was announced and it was at the instance of the insurgents. What the President has demonstrated today is that he said that all options are on the table. So, when the insurgents call for talk, how can anybody blame the government for that? If it doesn’t work out, that is not the fault of the government. That is actually the nature of the insurgents. Because they are factionalised, their line of command is not clearly defined.
“So, this government’s capability and performance cannot solely be represented on the outcome of the insurgency in Nigeria. There is agriculture, education, infrastructure, health, social development and many other component parts.”
Okupe further argued that Nigeria had three tiers of government and Nigerians should start demanding the dividends of democracy from their respective state and local governments.
He said, “There are three tiers of government: federal, state and local. The Federal Government only takes 48.5 per cent of the total revenue for the country. The other 51.5 per cent is taken by the states and all the local governments put together.
“But everybody focuses only on the Federal Government and that is wrong. It is right to put their focus on the Federal Government but it is wrong to put their focus only on the Federal Government, because the share of the money for development and administration is equal. And out of the Federal Government’s share, about 15 per cent goes to foreign affairs and military, which the states do not bear at all.”
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe has taken on Buhari, El-Rufai, Bola Tinubu and the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi
In a series of tweets by the President’s assistant on Saturday, he noted that one of the major presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari is being manipulated by three groups.
He said ” General Muhammadu Buhari is sadly a pawn on the national political chess board being manipulated by three groups. Young northern turks, El-Rufai, Bola Tinubu and Amaechi
El-Rufai and co hate GMB but his candidature will catapult them to high political offices of their dream
Tinubu and co have been constrained all their political lives as local champions to the South West. GMB is the bridge to access the national treasury”
Okupe also lashed at Amaechi, addressing him as a political lilliputian.
He said ” Amaechi is an infantile political lilliputian of low pedigree who plots on a remote chance of GMB victory as a shield post in 2015″
He also attacked Buhari saying ” GMB the grand master of treachery and mischief is aware of these polots but wants 2 exploit their greed for power to win and punish all friends and foes”
The Borno State Government yesterday faulted the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, for his comment on the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.
Okupe was quoted as saying that only God, Governor Kashim Shettima, Borno Commissioner for Education and the principal of the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok know the truth about the girls’ abduction.
The state said Okupe’s remarks were designed to manipulate the report of the Presidential Fact-Finding Committee on the incident.
A government source, who spoke in confidence, berated Okupe of peddling falsehood.
The source said: “Now that Borno’s support for the military is of public knowledge, the grand master of twists, Okupe, on Tuesday, came with yet another theory that died on arrival. All these theories won’t sell.
“Rather than waste energy on falsehood, let’s channel combined efforts towards the rescue or release of these priceless girls.
“Okupe needs to grow up; many of those who are younger than him in age and junior to him in many respects seem to be outgrowing him in management of public utterances. He should grow up.
“For us in Borno, we regard the police, the military, the Federal Ministry of Education and the West African Examination Council (WAEC) as part of us. This is why we didn’t want to speak until we were pushed to the wall after all these conspiracy thoughts were brought forward. We should all face the real issues, which are about rescuing the schoolgirls and ending the insurgency, and quickly too.
“We should mobilise Nigerians against our common enemy, which is the Boko Haram, instead of making so much effort to turn Borno, the major victim of the insurgency, into the major accused.
“Okupe should know that majority of Nigerians don’t quite trust him; no one believes whatever he says. He should, therefore, help the Presidency and not mislead the highest level of authority in Nigeria.”
The source said Okupe’s remarks were calculated to achieve a predetermined target in the ongoing investigation of the abduction of the girls.
It added: “One must suspect and indeed question Okupe’s rather calculated remarks at a time the fact-finding committee on Chibok abduction, set up by the Presidency Okupe works for, is rounding off its assignment after speaking with virtually all relevant stakeholders with the highest point being the visits and interactive sessions with officials of Borno State Government in Maiduguri as well as parents, school authorities and students of the affected school.
“One would expect that the committee is writing its report by now and, given the facts already in public domain, it is clear that the likes of Okupe are jittery that the findings are unlikely to be what they had wickedly presumed, hence he says of things that will manipulate and mislead members of the Presidential Committee.
“Okupe knows very well that on the night the President met with the governor, the Commissioner of Education and the principal, the Commissioner of Police and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Chibok were also there in connection with fact-finding by the President.
“So, why did Okupe deliberately keep out the police in his innuendos? He was being clever by half. He kept out the police because he must have seen the letter written by the Borno State Government to the police prior to the attack.
“He also knows what the police DPO told the President the night they met. Okupe also knows that exonerating the police is keeping out the Presidency out of his innuendos. For God’s sake, the President set up a high-powered fact-finding committee; the committee must have, by now, found the facts. Why wouldn’t the Presidency trust its own committee and allow it to present its findings?
“Why is Okupe saying all these things to create yet another confusion, just when the committee is rounding off and, very likely, writing its report? Could it be that Okupe has got the impression from the facts already in public domain that the conspiracy theories have refused to fly?
“Perhaps, he has all the feelers that the facts on ground do not favour the desperate plot to pronounce a major victim guilty, as speculated? This is because the very first term of reference issued by the Presidency, which says the committee should find out why the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok was opened when others were closed in the state, has already been contradicted by the same WAEC’s letter that the Okupe’s relied upon, albeit blindly.
“The letter shows that not only the school in Chibok was opened but indeed Chibok was just one of the six examination centres in parts of the state, including areas not far from Chibok, that were opened to students.
“So, it is to be expected that someone like Dr Doyin Okupe probably regrets the establishment of that committee and hence the last minute desperation.
“Not only Okupe seemed involved in the last minute attempt. The Minister of Information was also all over the media saying all kinds of falsehoods all in a combined effort to manipulate the fact-finding report.”
The source said it had survived many conspiracy theories from some Presidency officials in the last few weeks of the abduction of the 223 girls.
The former Federal Minister of Solid Minerals, Federal Minister of Education, and presently a high profile member of the All Progressives Congress, Oby Ezekwesili must have taken the differences between her and some members of the Prsident Jonathan’s administration personal.
A Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe has had his share of the attack by being completely ignored while trying to say hello to her.
Dr. Okupe who took to his twitter page described the behaviour as unchristian-like.
He said ”This unnecessary hostility of oby is petty, childish and unbefiting of a Christian, certainly not a pastor’s, wife Oby ezekwesili is unfit 4 leadership
”Just met oby @heathrow. went over to say hello. Shockingly she refused to say hello or shake me.! We may disagree but it ought not be personal.
Meanwhile Dr. Ezekwesili took to her twitter page criticising the decision reached by the Abuja Commissioner Police, Joseph Mbu over the banning of further protest relating to Chibok girls abduction.
She said ”The FG would do well to send its officials who wish to roll back our Democracy by infringing on Citizens Rights to my #Democracy101 Class.
”There is no BASIS for and no POWER of FCT Commissioner of Police to ban peaceful assembly of any group of persons in in the city. None @ ALL
”We of the AbujaFamily of #BringBackOurGirls have in the face of harassment by both the Nigerian Police &hired thugs maintained our CIVILITY”
She advised the commissioner to arrest the thugs and their sponsors who attacked the protesters instead of banning a peaceful protest.
”What Commissioner Mbu should do is REPRIMAND their sponsored thugs who attacked us, WOMEN at our peaceful gathering. He can. He hired them.
”When their thugs attacked us while Mbu’s POLICEmen stood aloof, we refused to engage wt their gutter conduct. We figured this was their PLOT
”Predictably, Mbu has proven by his latest ill advised statement of repression of Citizens Rights that he and his bosses HIRED those THUGS.
”If Mbu’s daughter were one of 200 Daughters of Nigeria held captive by terrorists & We came out to STAND 4 their CAUSE, he would do this??
”Our AbujaFamily of #BringBackOurGirls diverse women, men and young people STANDING with our #ChibokGirls SHALL never abandon them. Never!
”No matter how DIRELY they want to take our FOCUS off our #ChibokGirls, We shall not permit them that LUXURY. All WE are SAYING………!!!”
In an effort to reduce the national insecurity in Nigeria, the Federal Government has set up a 24 hours information gathering centre that will be responsible for information gathering and dissemination in the government’s effort to bring back the abducted girls of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
The Senior Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe has disclosed while speaking on CNN on the government plans at fighting terrorism and effort made to rescue the over 220 students abducted by the Boko Haram insurgetns.
According to Doyin, the Federal Government is restless on its oars as more than 1000 troops are on their way to Borno State.
Okupe also stressed that President Jonathan discussed with US Secretary of State, John Kerry, on how US could assist Nigeria in the rescue, adding that Nigeria has accepted the offer.
Though Okupe pointed that there is shortage in the fight against terrorism in the country, but insisted that the government is working around the clock to make sure that the girls are rescued home, and joined with their parents.
The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, on the other hand, revealed that the security forces have arrested some suspects in connection with the bomb attack at Nyanya motor park and are currently assisting in the investigations.
Okupe was quoted as saying that only God, Governor Kashim Shettima, Borno Commissioner for Education and the principal of the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok know the truth about the girls’ abduction.
A Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe has had his share of the attack by being completely ignored while trying to say hello to her.
She advised the commissioner to arrest the thugs and their sponsors who attacked the protesters instead of banning a peaceful protest.