Monday, December 21, 2015

Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: [africanworldforum] Re: [NIgerianWorldForum] Re: [OmoOdua] Re: [AfricanWorldForum] Nigerian Tribune Newspaper Fires Reporter, Editor Over Concocted Interview Berating Buhari (Re: ||NaijaObserver|| Buhari is not sincere with corruption fight — Sagay) [1 Attachment])


My People:


Only one of the four newspapers has so far published my interview - to the best of my knowledge....even that one, the headline was very deformed, and I was quoted wrongly in the body of the interview at least twice....

I told my PR Unit: "You see why I don't like granting the Press interviews?  They hardly act professionally....."



Bolaji Aluko


On Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 12:58 AM, Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com> wrote:

Afis:

It is one thing for a reporter to state that he heard rumors of an impending divorce between Barack and Michelle Obama.  That he heard  a rumor might be true - and he is merely repeating a rumor that may be true or false.  It is another thing ENTIRELY to  publish a fake interview purportedly interviewing Michelle quoting her as saying that she was divorcing Barack.

What this Tribune reporter did to Sagay's name was criminal, and both the reporter and its reporter could be sued, even though they could claim that they were conned by an impostor - but they did not do due dilligence.  And wailing wailers were too happy to jump upon it and repeat it and start to analyze it.

I am a little tired of Nigerian newspapers, and here is a story......

Just the other day, four newspaper people came to interview me,  post-accreditation, at Otuoke.  At the start of the interview, one lady claimed to be representing one particular newspaper, despite the fact that the reporter of that newspaper had earlier given an indication to my PR staff that he could not attend.  Anyway, ten minutes into the group interview, another reporter came in, claiming to be representing that particular newspaper ALREADY at the table.  To make matters worse, he said that he was "Mr. Lagbaja Tamodu" - giving the actual name of the reporter of that newspaper who had said he could not attend, who I knew by face and name.  When I claimed he was not that person that I knew, he quickly said that no, really he was not, but that he had been sent by that person to represent him.  

So at one sitting, I had TWO newspaper persons being impostors in one interview....I felt disgusted and let them know it.  I later called Mr. Lagbaja Tamodu, who expressed surprise about the first person (the lady), but confirmed that he belatedly sent the second impostor, but wondered why he at first misrepresented his real identity.

Only one of the four newspapers has so far published the interview - to my knowledge....

And there you have it.


Bolaji Aluko


On Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 12:09 AM, afis 'Deinde <odidere2012@gmail.com> wrote:
The reporter cannot be prosecuted in a civilized society. He has the right to be dumb. The only thing you can do to him is to fire him. If he's not fired, in a civilized society, readership of the paper will dwindle. 
Many times tabloid press have carried fake news about Obama planning to divorce Michelle.
Okay?
It's not a good thing, but the reporter is covered under free speech.

Shikena 
Afis
"Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the storm, even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame." — Dhamapada, verse 81.

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On Dec 21, 2015, at 2:57 PM, 'Wharf A. Snake' via AfricanWorldForum <africanworldforum@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Brown envelope reporting. In Nigeria reporters are not paid any salaries. They are expected to sustain themselves with their brown envelope take. This reporter is just trying to make ends meet.

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Ejo ni Mushin - Prince 


On Dec 21, 2015, at 1:52 PM, Nelson Ekujumi ekujuminel@yahoo.com [NIgerianWorldForum] <NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Imperial,

I agree that the reporter and his editor should be quizzed and prosecuted because this report was a violation of the constitutional duty of the media as it misinformed.

Nelson Ekujumi


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On Dec 21, 2015, at 17:30, "Imperial imperial_ltd@yahoo.com [OmoOdua]" <OmoOdua@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

The reporter is criminal. 

He should be invited by the police/ SSS for a chat . 


Sent from my iPad

On 21 Dec 2015, at 17:06, abiodun KOMOLAFE ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk [AfricanWorldForum] <AfricanWorldForum@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Nigerian Tribune Newspaper Fires Reporter, Editor Over Concocted Interview Berating Buhari


The Nigerian Tribune, a newspaper owned by the family of late Nigerian political sage, Obafemi Awolowo, has fired a senior reporter, Olakunle Timothy Taiwo, for concocting an interview with Itse Sagay, a constitutional lawyer, and scholar. Senior reporter at the Tribune, Olakunle Timothy Taiwo.


The paper's Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief, Edward Dickson, confirmed Mr. Taiwo's sack in a response to a text from SaharaReporters. Our correspondent had sent a text asking the MD to confirm the authenticity of information that the paper was about to issue an apology to Mr. Sagay and to formally retract the report based on a non-existent interview with the legal scholar.


<image1.JPG>

Senior reporter at the Tribune, Olakunle Timothy Taiwo


In a widely circulated report in the paper's online edition, Mr. Taiwo claimed that Mr. Sagay had reportedly berated President Muhammadu Buhari's anti-corruption war. However, in an interview yesterday with SaharaReporters, Mr. Sagay, who chairs President Buhari's advisory team on anti-corruption, denied that he granted any interview to the reporter or the Tribune. He also challenged the reporter and newspaper to provide proof that he spoke to them.


The Tribune's MD said he was at the newspaper's annual general meeting and, therefore, could not offer further comments on the forged report. However, another source at the paper told SaharaReporters that an editor had also been fired early today over the same scandal.


The Nigerian Tribune is one of the newspapers named as beneficiaries of a payout from funds that were meant for the purchase of weapons to fight Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram. The revelation of a widespread dole-out of cash to media groups, including the Tribune, is part of a growing financial scandal involving former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (ret.). Mr. Dasuki is accused of diverting more than $2 billion budgeted for the purchase of weapons for the Nigerian military. Much of the looted defense funds were then shared among officials of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for campaign purposes. 


In addition, Mr. Dasuki funneled billions of naira to Raymond Dokpesi, proprietor of African Independent Television (AIT), and Nduka Obaigbena, owner of ThisDaynewspaper. Mr. Obaigbena also became the alleged conduit for distributing cash to at least 12 newspapers, according to findings by agents investigating the NSA's illicit disbursements of defense funds. 



abiodun KOMOLAFE, AMNIM,
020, Okenisa Street,
PO Box 153,
Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.
 
Tel:- +234 803 361 4419 (SMS Only)
        
 
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On Dec 21, 2015, at 09:41, abiodun KOMOLAFE ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk [Egbeodua] <Egbeodua@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Oga Claver,

I am abiodun KOMOLAFE.

Did you mean PDPigs?

But what I'm seeing below are ... monkeys, I guess.

So, what do we call them?

May God save us from ourselves!


abiodun KOMOLAFE, AMNIM,
020, Okenisa Street,
PO Box 153,
Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.
 
Tel:- +234 803 361 4419 (SMS Only)
        
 
                                                         ----------------------------------
                                                   Because He lives, the end is not now!

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On Dec 21, 2015, at 09:31, Peter Claver Oparah <peterclaver2000@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hahahaha Oga Abiodun,

Restraint from contributors? By contributors, I hope you don't include the crying bush babies, I mean the inconsolable Wailing Wailers, who have wept their Buhsriphobic brains out and are in dire search for newer wailing points, as The Tribute phantom provides? 

See them here;

<image.jpeg>

Sent from my iPad

On Dec 21, 2015, at 9:03 AM, "'abiodun KOMOLAFE' via OkonkwoNetworks" <okonkwonetworks@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Oga Claver,

I am abiodun KOMOLAFE.

Thank you, jare!

But 'Tribune' or 'Tribute': what's the difference as far as its disposition towards the Muhammadu Buhari-led government is concerned? 

As for me, that's why I have always urged restraint on the part of contributors. This is a solid example of why contributors must be 'quick to read but slow to respond.' 

Thank God, I've never joined the fray!

In any case, please find below Sahara Reporters' account of Professor Sagay's disclaimer:

------------------------------

I Never Granted Any Interview To Nigerian Tribune About Buhari's Anti-Corruption War—Itse Sagay


Itse Sagay, a legal scholar, has denied ever granting an interview to the Nigerian Tribune to deride President Muhammadu Buhari's anti-corruption efforts.



Speaking with a correspondent of SaharaReporters by telephone from Lagos, Mr. Sagay, a professor of law, well known constitutional lawyer and head of President Buhari's advisory committee on anti-corruption, said he was shocked to read a report concocted by the newspaper, crediting him with sharp criticism of the current administration's anti-corruption strategy. According to him, the newspaper's report on his purported interview represented a desperate attempt to discredit President Buhari's anti-corruption war. 
 
Mr. Sagay told our correspondent that he had stopped granting interviews to the Tribune after the paper's editors had twisted an interview he granted them in August. According to him, the paper's account of his August interview was tailored to suit the devious agenda of its editors hence his rejection of all efforts by the newspaper to speak with him on record for an interview.


The Nigerian Tribune is one of the newspapers named as beneficiaries of a payout from funds that were meant for the purchase of weapons to fight Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram. The revelation of a widespread dole-out of cash to media groups, including the Tribune, has emerged as part of a scandal involving former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (ret.), who is accused of diverting more than $2 billion budgeted for weaponry. 


Investigators have revealed that several Nigerian newspapers received N10 million each from the slush fund overseen by Mr. Dasuki. At least 12 newspapers were paid from the fund through Nduka Obaigbena, chair of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), according to investigators. Even though the Tribune denied receiving the funds, subsequent disclosures indicated that the newspaper's editors took part in a meeting where it was agreed that the booty should be accepted. 


In dismissing the opinion attributed to him by the Tribune, Mr. Sagay said he had never met or spoken to the journalist who wrote the report, insisting that the interview was made up. He challenged the reporter and paper's editors to provide the public with a tape recording of the so-called interview.


 
The late Obafemi Awolowo founded the Tribune, and his family still owns the paper, which is one of Nigeria's longest surviving daily newspapers. 

May God save us from ourselves!


abiodun KOMOLAFE, AMNIM,
020, Okenisa Street,
PO Box 153,
Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.
 
Tel:- +234 803 361 4419 (SMS Only)
        
 
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                                                   Because He lives, the end is not now!

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On Dec 21, 2015, at 08:44, Peter Claver Oparah peterclaver2000@yahoo.com [AfricanWorldForum] <AfricanWorldForum@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Oga Abiodun,

Is it Nigerian Tribune or Nigerian Tribute? 

Sent from my iPad

On Dec 21, 2015, at 8:32 AM, "abiodun KOMOLAFE ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk [AfricanWorldForum]" <AfricanWorldForum@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Fellow Nigerians,

I am abiodun KOMOLAFE.

First and foremost, thank God the erudite professor has written a disclaimer to the interview he's reported to have granted Nigerian Tribune. The truth here is: someone, somewhere is trying to be clever by half and one can only urge the learned professor to put his learned wits into use here.

Having said that, one conspicuous portion of the said interview was his classification, or categorization, of President Buhari as a mere Primary School Certificate holder.

In the said interview, purportedly granted by him, Prof. Sagay was quoted as saying:

"We have highly intelligent people in this country; we are not mediocres, but it is just that mediocre people rule over us. I cannot just imagine President Buhari, who has a primary school certificate, ruling the country when we have loads of intelligential great men and women."

But, the same Professor Sagay was said to have granted the interview below in January, 2015.

A case of double-speak? Or 'I have just seen what I couldn't see before'? Or blackmail? Or ...?
 
-------------------------

BUHARI'S CERTIFICATE EQUIVALENT TO MASTER'S DEGREE, SAYS PROF SAGAY

January 20th, 2015 | by administrator
BUHARI'S CERTIFICATE EQUIVALENT TO MASTER'S DEGREE, SAYS PROF SAGAY
HEADLINES

Constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, says the qualification Maj.Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) has is equivalent to a Master's degree.

Sagay, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said this while reacting to a claim by another senior advocate, Mr. Mike Ozekhome, that Buhari was not qualified to contest because he could not provide his certificate.

Sagay said there was nowhere in the constitution where it was stated that a candidate of a political party must provide his certificate.

He said Buhari attended the Military Training College in Kaduna; the Mons Officer Cadet School in the United Kingdom; and the Army War College in the United States.

He said anyone that did not have a secondary school certificate could not have attended such prestigious military schools.

He said, "This whole discussion of Buhari's qualification is a negative distraction from the legitimate process of electioneering which should involve issues, records of the candidates, their character, and their capacity to govern. These are things we should be talking about.

"The constitution is very clear on the issue of qualification. It states that you are qualified to be a President if you have achieved the level of school certificate or its equivalent. Buhari has been to Military College in Britain, he has been to colleges in India and USA, involving high level of training and intellect.

"We need to ask if participation and completion of courses at these levels and the basic officers training in Mons Officers Cadet School are less than school certificates. On the contrary, you need school certificate to attend those courses. So, if he has attended all those courses, then there is absolutely no need to be talking about secondary school certificates anymore.

"So, this man attended secondary school and we hear he was even the head boy. He has been to the Cadet School in Mons, he attended the War College in the US and was given a certificate which is equivalent to a master's degree.

Sagay said Nigeria had continued to worsen under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan despite the fact that he was the first doctorate degree holder to become the President of Nigeria.

"If I may add, how has the Ph.D of the President helped this country?" he said.


-------------------------------------


As stated above, thank God: SAN Sagay has now put the issue in proper perspective.

May God save us from ourselves!


abiodun KOMOLAFE, AMNIM,
020, Okenisa Street,
PO Box 153,
Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.
 
Tel:- +234 803 361 4419 (SMS Only)
        
 
                                                         ----------------------------------
                                                   Because He lives, the end is not now!

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On Dec 21, 2015, at 02:40, Adekunle Alao aalao35@yahoo.com [NaijaObserver] <NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

  Buhari is not sincere with corruption fight —Sagay
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Professor Itse Sagay, SAN, headed President Muhammadu Buhari's advisory committee on anti-corruption. He speaks with OLAKUNLE TAIWO on the legal implications of the Kogi governorship election, why some key institutions are corrupt, the president's integrity and his anti-graft crusade, among others. Excerpts:
AS a constitutional lawyer, what do you think would have been the right thing to do in Kogi when the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Prince Audu Abubakar, died before the declaration of the results of the election?
You know the issue is new and there was no provision for such at all in the constitution, but somehow the decision should have been at the discretion of the Attorney-General of the Federation or the prerogative of the court to actually decide which way to go. It was like a lacuna or lawless case, where anybody can just act the way he feels, because there was no provision for it. So, both parties can do what they like and that is just it. Sincerely, there is an extent to which the case can be prosecuted legally, because having no provision for it, it has created a loophole for anybody to act anyhow. We will just be making noise. Therefore, in such a case, the judiciary or anybody can be influenced. 
How do you mean sir?   
You should understand now. For instance, most of the political judgments in court now will be tilting to the side of the APC, because they are in power. That is the truth, especially in a situation where there is a clear loophole that gives any judge the leeway to give judgment he feels like. Nobody will have any ground to query such judgment.
 
How best can such issues be resolved then?
Of a truth, the election was almost concluded before the death of the APC candidate. It was a clear case that APC was winning, and if that was the case, I think the decision should be more to the APC and not to the PDP, because if we had any cause to decide the election with that results, the APC had already won but their candidate died. The only thing I am not comfortable with was that when Audu died, it should be his running mate that should have taken over and not somebody who never campaigned or contested.
 
Many legal experts have different views on this issue…  
That is why we say there is a loophole. If that election had been concluded and results announced, and Audu died, there would be no argument. Honourable James Faleke, his running mate, would have taken over. Unfortunately, the returning officer said the election was inconclusive, and you know APC is peopled by very clever and highly-intelligent, as well as criminally-minded people. I am telling you sincerely, you can hardly beat them in such an issue. They take advantage of any slightest opportunity unlike the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Once the APC saw that the running mate, though they accepted him as running mate, didn't carry the kind of weight to be their governor, they quickly exploited the loophole. You know running mates, whether deputy governor, vice-president or what have you, are just like stooges; they don't carry any political weight.  So, the fact that they agreed to his becoming deputy governor didn't mean he would be acceptable to them as governor, because a governor takes decision. And maybe they realised that Faleke would not listen to them in their caucus. You know within a party, there are always caucuses; so, the powers-that-be within the party might not want him in power. That was why they had to manipulate the whole situation, which nobody has any ground to query. Let anybody take it to any court.
Was the position of the INEC the best option in such circumstance, given the fact that Honourable Faleke and Idris Wada are still kicking?
In fact, that is the most intelligent position that could help the situation then. It was a situation that nobody envisaged, so the best way to it was to declare the election inconclusive. But one thing is that both the INEC and principal actors in the party knew that there was no provision for them in the constitution. Therefore, all of them were depending on who knows who. They would have quickly gone to press buttons in the judiciary and the office of the AGF, because there is no independent judiciary.
No independent judiciary?
Forget about it. It is just a mere saying.
So, who is controlling the judiciary?
Who puts them there? The executive, of course. But it is not peculiar to Nigeria, maybe the whole of Africa. Even in developed countries, the judiciary can be influenced, but the only thing is that they are careful in all those manipulations.
What do you mean by influencing the judiciary?
Influencing the judiciary may not necessarily be through cash splash. For instance, a judge can be fired by the person that puts him there if he gives a judgment that is not pleasing to the party. And because the judge is still interested in his job, he will want to act to the script. So, it is very easy for the judge to compromise without receiving any cash incentive. But you know that the party will not do without giving you money anyway. Another reason judges are easily compromised is because many of them don't have plans for life after retirement. So the fear of developing stroke after losing their job is what actually kills most of them; they allow the powers-that-be to have their way.
How then can sanity be restored to the judiciary, given the fact that the oppressed look up to the judiciary as the bastion of hope?
I must tell you without prejudice that the consensus of the 2014 national confab must be implemented. I am telling you the truth; the whole of Nigerians were well-represented at that confab. Every geopolitical zone was represented and they arrived at vital decisions. Let us implement those decisions so that we can move forward. Another thing is that we have a criminal situation everywhere in the country. For instance, let's look at the Senate. I doubt if their salary is up to N1million but their allowances are up to N25 million per month. I don't think there is any professor in this country earning N1 million per month. Now, some governors are saying they can't pay the N18,000 minimum wage, which is not up to the money some of them use to feed their dog per day and some of them will have up to six. So, who do you want to give N18,000 to? A secondary school student will even spend more than N18,000 per month not to talk of a man married with two kids and you now say the person will not perpetrate fraud. They will. That is why you can't fight corruption successfully. It is not possible.  Another example is that you will see a graduate being paid N50,000 per month to secure N50 million and you will say he should not commit fraud. The children will come and bring 'don't come to school on Monday' letter and your wife will say if you know you want to sleep in this house, drop money for us. That is the unfortunate thing.
Let me tell give you another instance, I am very close to some of the police officers and I know how much they collect. It is ridiculous and that is why they can't stop checkpoints, because that is what they use to maintain their vehicles for patrol and other expenses. The money that is supposed to go to them doesn't get to them. At the Police College, Ikeja in 2013, the government said it was training the police for security reasons and it gave them N150 per day; that is N50 per meal, an adult for that matter. This is the reality. They would prepare a watery soup inside a bucket and 25 people would sit round it with only one big head of a fish. What the government is doing is destroying their psyche and even before they eat that food, they bribe their way to pass and to be posted to the right place. Some policemen buy their shoes and uniform themselves and it is not as if allocations were not made for all these things and nobody is talking. Afterwards, you will say you are fighting corruption. We are not sincere with our anti-graft fight. It is just on the media we see it. Before you can say you want to fight corruption, you must put certain things in place, because a hungry man will steal. Let us put necessary infrastructure in place. Lt the people be well remunerated, then you can now begin to impose sanctions. 
           
With the way the Kogi and Bayelsa elections went, do you think INEC will live up to expectations? 
Well, I am very close to some of their top officials somehow and I know that they dance to the tune of the politicians, especially the incumbents. For instance, in Kogi, before the election, the people and key PDP stalwarts didn't support the candidacy of Idris Wada. However, the APC should not have got that kind of votes. And when that kind of a thing happens, that is the loophole INEC takes advantage of to the advantage of whoever it wants to support. People still buy INEC and that is the truth. In Lagos State, for instance, no other party can win except the APC.
Why?
All the INEC officials in Lagos are on the payroll of someone who will ask you what it takes to win. Someone who is ready to give you more than you ask for. It is everywhere but it depends on who can spend more. And that is why you see a civil servant who is an INEC official with so much money. I have many friends among them and the salary of these senior people is not more than N150,000 per month, but they have houses everywhere.  Where did they get the money? One of them, after the 2011 elections, bought a home of about N100 million, where did he get the money?
If the judiciary and INEC are in such mess, what then is the place of integrity in Nigeria's society today?    
Integrity is very rare now; people no longer say 'if I die, I die.' Though we still have people of integrity, they are scarce. And where integrity is lacking, anything can happen. Immediately President Buhari got to Aso Rock, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State [Security] Service (DSS), as if they have not existed before, began to arrest and do all sort of things. But, if you look at it holistically, are they saying it is only PDP governors or public office holders that are corrupt? No. One thing is that they are doing whatever they are doing to please the president, who can hire and fire them. Which of the governors, out of the 36 states, is not corrupt? So, why is it that only PDP people are being chased up and down?
 
Does that mean that as the head of the advisory committee on corruption, you are not satisfied with the whole thing? 
As much as I am not a politician, one thing I know is that the anti-corruption crusade is selective, but most of the people being pursued by the EFCC are corrupt. What we are saying is that all others in the APC that are stealing should also be chased if President Buhari is really serious about this corruption of a thing. It is only then that the fight against corruption can be seen as fair and balanced. When there is no equity and justice, people will begin to doubt your integrity in whatever you are pursuing. For instance, if we recall 1983 when Buhari/Idiagbon came to office, immediately they knew there was corruption, they changed Nigerian currency so that all the people that had stolen money and kept it at home had such rendered useless and all corrupt officials were arrested. 
But you also have to remember that Ambrose Ali died in prison; Adelakun, who was deputy governor to Bola Ige, died in prison; Olabisi Onabanjo developed kidney problem in the prison. Most of these people were Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) governors. But in whose house was N50 million cash belonging to the government was found? That person was only given a house arrest, because he is a Northerner. No Northerner was treated the way they treated the Southern governors. That is why as much as I respect President Buhari, I know that his sincerity is not total.
In what way sir?
If you remember the case of the 53 suitcases, Abubakar Atiku was the Customs officer in charge and it was through the back door that they used to bring in the 53 suitcases to Nigeria. But they were intercepted; Atiku was in Customs then. But when he wanted to make trouble about it, he was sacked by Buhari and nothing was done. What is [sance] for the goose is [sance] for the gander. The only way people can respect you or your integrity is when the children of the people you don't know at all and yours commit a crime and you deal with them accordingly; people will respect you. Corruption is everywhere. It is endemic, and that is why he should not focus on one side. Our anti-graft fight is cosmetic; we are not serious about it. I must be sincere with you. I think the APC will try a little, but what is supposed to be done with N50 billion, they will do it with N100 billion. But you know the thing about Nigerians is that, if you tell them you want to tar the road that leads to their house and they see the road tarred, they don't want to know how much you have spent. The only thing you will hear is this is an action man; he promised and he has done it. What people don't know is that the APC is more corrupt, but unlike the PDP, they will do projects that people will see, although they will not be of good standards. But people will still see something. And if you try to probe into those projects, you will realise that they have defrauded Nigerians they take even more than the PDP, because they have a clever way of doing that. That is the truth.    
 
What lessons can we learn from the recent elections, especially in Kogi?
In the case of Kogi, I believe the National Assembly and the House of Representatives must be working on constitution amendment to make provision for such cases. But I know that before any major election, it will be enshrined in the constitution. The Nigerian Bar Association and the judiciary should sit down and deliberate on it. We have highly intelligent people in this country; we are not mediocres, but it is just that mediocre people rule over us. I cannot just imagine President Buhari, who has a primary school certificate, ruling the country when we have loads of intelligential great men and women. Many of these politicians are business mayors and cannot handle any business successfully despite the fact that they already have the resources at their disposal. But because politics is a dirty game, those who do not want to be rubbished will not be willing to come out, and that is why the dirty ones will continue to rule. 
But I think the only way out is to bring sanity to our mode of electioneering. It should be removed from the constitution that any presidential aspirant should have a minimum of a school certificate. And how this even find its way into the constitution was when the Hausa people were in power. They did that to accommodate themselves, because a lot of them don't go beyond primary school certificate and they believe they are destined to rule, imagine.
In case we have another instance like that of Kogi, how best should the constitution address it?
In a situation where such thing happens, the normal thing is for the running mate of the winning party to assume power. That is the way I see it and the normal way I think it should be. It shouldn't be that somebody who never contested will now be brought from somewhere to take over. But if the election has to be cancelled and everybody now comes out to contest again, then it is a different case.
 
What is your take on the question of party supremacy, because Faleke is still fighting his party's decision, leading to the National chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun saying the party might move against him at some point?
When you talk of party supremacy, it is too political. For instance, in 2011, the PDP candidate for the Speaker of the House of Representatives was not Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, but he became Speaker. The same played out for the APC this year, because the party's candidate for the Senate Presidency was Senator Ahmad Lawan, not Senator Bukola Saraki. The party made all manners of noise forgetting they had been a beneficiary of the same thing against the PDP, so, that is why I said party supremacy is political and a game of power play. It is because the party didn't support Senator Saraki that is why they are instituting all these allegations against him. Can you tell me any of them that have given accurate figures of his assets? None of them has done it with utmost sincerity in this country. In Nigeria, you are only a thief if your party isn't in power, because once the powers-that-be are not on your side, you are the biggest thief. So, the question of party supremacy, to me, makes no sense. Is the party's constitution more supreme than the Nigerian constitution? No.

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