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Controversy Erupts Over Claims Of Peter Obi’s Financial Aid To Oseni
The alleged funding of the late father of Arise TV journalist Rufai Oseni’s funeral by Peter Obi of the Labour Party continues to stir controversy.
Social critic Reno Omokri has called on the former Anambra Governor to address whether he provided money to Oseni during the funeral.
Reno alleged that such support influenced the journalist into making political comments and analyses in favour of Obi.
In a tweet, Omokri demanded that Peter Obi publicly deny any financial inducement of Mr. Oseni, emphasizing that Obi should clarify whether he sponsored Oseni’s father’s funeral or not.
Omokri said, “I asked a question that Mr. Peter Obi has NOT answered and has tried to use semantics to dodge.
“My question is this: Did Peter Obi fund the funeral of Mr Rufai Oseni’s father by giving him money in cash or via electronic means, either directly or through a third party, and has that influenced Mr. Oseni’s open bias in favour of Peter Obi, whereby Mr. Oseni used the Arise TV platform as a medium to campaign for and launder the image of Mr Peter Obi, and his undisguised personal animosity towards me for my refusal to support Mr Peter Obi’s Presidential ambition.”
Responding to Omokri’s inquiries, Peter Obi rejected the allegations, stating, “I have recently been mentioned to have bribed Rufai Oseni by financially sponsoring the burial of his father.”
“I have never and will never monetarily induce any journalist to speak or write in my favour. When I am invited to birthday celebrations or funerals, people know that I do attend.
“Countless journalists, media personnel, the less privileged, the wealthy etc have all invited me to their occasions, and they will attest to the fact that I honour such invitations, especially when people are grieving.
I have never been to Rufai’s village. Even at the point of writing this, I do not know where he is from.”
Nevertheless, Omokri remained steadfast, asserting that the presidential candidate evaded his questions. He argued that Obi’s response relied on sophistry to avoid directly addressing the core question.
He said, “Look, I have a Masters in Law and I am not moved by empty sophistry. I asked a question that Mr. Peter Obi had NOT answered and tried to use semantics to dodge.
“My question is this: Did Peter Obi fund the funeral of Mr Rufai Oseni’s father by giving him money in cash or via electronic means, either directly or through a third party, and has that influenced Mr. Oseni’s open bias in favour of Peter Obi, whereby Mr. Oseni used the AriseTV platform as a medium to campaign for and launder the image of Mr Peter Obi, and his undisguised personal animosity towards me for my refusal to support Mr Peter Obi’s Presidential ambition? Yes or no.”
He also asked, “Mr. Peter Obi, you did not respond to that question. You said you did not “bribe” Mr Rufai Oseni, however, that is not what I asked. Did you or did you not give money, either directly or indirectly, to Mr Rufai Oseni? Yes or no? Simple,” asked Omokri
Omokri additionally alleged that Rufai Oseni, the Arise TV journalist, threatened him with death in a recorded audio and falsely claimed to have acquired a subpoena from Chicago State University (CSU), aiming to disprove Tinubu’s attendance at the university.
In a social media initiative labeled #PublishTheSubpoena, Omokri challenged Oseni to make the mentioned subpoena regarding Tinubu public.
Furthermore, Omokri emphasized that he has shared documents from the institution on his social media platform, confirming that Tinubu indeed graduated from the University, just as he had asserted.
“This is now the fifth day of my challenge to Rufai Oseni to publish the subpoena upon which he said that Chicago State University denied Bola Tinubu’s academic credentials on Tuesday, November 22, 2022.
“Rufai Oseni also challenged me to publish the document I was given by @ChicagoState University, which I did.
“I also published their phone number (+1 (773) 995-2517) and their email address (CSU-Registrar@csu.edu), urging anyone who doubted the genuineness of the document and the veracity of what it contains to contact Chicago State University directly.
“Now, I call on all Nigerians who want to know the truth about whether or not President Bola Tinubu attended Chicago State University to call on Rufai Oseni to #PublishTheSubpoena.”
The President of the African School of Governance, Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu has admonished state actors against resorting to brutal force in the bid to muscle out separatist agitators.
In the aftermath of Mazi Simon Ekpa, the Finland based Biafran nationalist agitator being caught in legal web and the Nigerian government moving swiftly to seek his repatriation, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cautioned that ‘We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.’
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The political economist, while expressing his hope in Nigeria, made it clear that “hope is not a strategy”.
He bared his mind in a series of posts on his verified handle on micro-blogging site, X on Friday.
Moghalu wrote, “Despite sustained contemporary difficulties, I am hopeful about Nigeria. But hope is not a strategy. We need to improve state capacity for effective governance.
“We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.
“We must learn to be honest with ourselves and address the root causes of our problems. Why ignore them, when the problem is actually quite solvable? The problem with continuing with this approach is that when the danger crystallizes, those who thought they were benefiting from
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has criticized the federal government’s plan to secure an additional N1.7 trillion loan through Eurobonds to cover a shortfall in the 2024 budget, describing the borrowing as unsustainable and harmful to Nigeria’s economy.
In a statement shared on Thursday via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Atiku accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of burdening Nigerians with debt while failing to provide clear answers about the country’s fiscal challenges.
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He also faulted the National Assembly for enabling what he called a “voracious appetite” for loans.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate expressed alarm over a recent World Bank report ranking Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), calling the development troubling.
“The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning,” Atiku stated.
He raised further concerns about the government’s decision to benchmark the proposed loan at an exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official rate being over N1,600.
“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD,” he said.
Atiku questioned the need for additional borrowing, given the government’s earlier claims of record-high revenue collection.
“In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the FIRS and Customs under his watch had collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget. Why are they still borrowing?” he said
He accused the government of a lack of transparency, describing the borrowing spree as detrimental to Nigerians already struggling under economic hardship.
“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.”
Atiku also referenced a report by BudgIT, a budget monitoring group, which criticized the 2024 budget for its inefficiencies.
He alleged that corruption, rather than infrastructure or development needs, was driving the government’s borrowing decisions.
“These loans are powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs. This voracious appetite for humongous loans is deeply concerning,” he said.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s financial history, Atiku lamented the return to significant foreign indebtedness just years after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration cleared the country’s debt.
“It is agonizing to see that just a few years after the Obasanjo administration took us out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum,” he stated.
He called for a more cautious approach to borrowing, urging the government to prioritize fiscal responsibility and transparency to avoid worsening Nigeria’s economic challenges.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken a historic step, issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The charges include crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during Israel’s recent assault on Gaza.
In a detailed statement, the ICC accused the Israeli leaders of “intentionally and knowingly depriving the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”
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The ICC’s move marks a significant escalation in international scrutiny of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu and Gallant are alleged to have orchestrated policies that caused severe harm to the civilian population in Gaza, leading to widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
Alongside the charges against Israeli officials, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Deif has long been a central figure in Hamas’s military operations. Israel’s military claims to have killed him in a July airstrike, although this has not been independently verified.
The warrants highlight growing calls for accountability amid the ongoing conflict in the region. The ICC’s actions are likely to provoke heated debate and may complicate diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.
With the warrants issued, global attention now turns to how the international community will respond and whether any practical steps will be taken to enforce them.
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