NEWS
MKO Abiola’s family criticises Hundeyin for publishing untrue story against their father
The family of late Moshood Abiola (MKO) has chided journalist, David Hundeyin, for claiming that the democracy hero was involved in narcotics.
Hundeyin had in an article titled: “Bola Ahmed Tinubu: From Drug Lord To Presidential Candidate” alleged that Abiola traded in hard drugs while he was alive.
Reacting to the claim in a statement signed by Yushau Abiola, on behalf of Kudirat’s children, the late MKO’s family said Hundeyin’s unfounded allegation exposed him as a hack journalist who had engraved his name in the sand of fake news.
This is even as Abiola’s children maintained that the journalist was only rabble-rousing and intended to drag the legacy of the acclaimed winner of the June 12 presidential election in the mud.
They added that neither the late businessman nor his companies’ bank accounts were ever frozen as erroneously claimed by Hundeyin, adding that Abiola was so respected and dignified that he was the only Nigerian to have been so far allowed to enter the United States of America without his international passport.
“Our father, Chief M. K.O. Abiola, GCFR, died a hero 24 years ago, after being victimised by the military junta.
”He died confronting the military dictatorship, determined to secure the mandate of the Nigerian people given in the historic June 12 elections, so that Nigerians regardless of their backgrounds, could live and aspire freely!
“It is disheartening that his legacy is being dragged in the mud by David Hundeyin for his own ulterior motives.
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“The completely unfounded narcotics related allegations by David Hundeyin in relation to our father not only raise questions about his motive for including these concocted facts but also expose Hundeyin as a hack journalist.
“Yet when it came to this grave allegation about our father he merely quoted an American tabloid, the only source he could find for his malicious purposes,” the family said.
They said when the Daily Beast took a stab at this story some years ago, a tantalising hint was mentioned in passing about an unimaginable parallel between 1993 and 2023.
“He gave the impression that the article in the Daily Beast was a recent article which drew a parallel between Bola Ahmed Tinubu and M.K.O. but this article was published in 2015.
“Strange is it not, that he provided no other evidence of same? Some research! An investigative journalist, indeed.
“Indeed, our family name ranks so high in the U.S. that a prominent corner in New York, right next to corners named after Nelson and Winnie Mandela and Yitzhak Rabin, was named after his wife, our mother, Kudirat Abiola,” they stated
The family in the statement noted that when this unfounded allegation first appeared in the said American tabloid in 2015, they confronted John Campbell, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, who was alleged to have said that MKO was accused of narcotics trading.
They stated that Campbell said that he knew of nothing concrete but a rumour he had heard from the military leadership, which he presumed was being peddled by persons who sought a justification for the annulment of the June 12 election.
The family challenged Hundeyin to provide results of his “so-called” research showing involvement of MKO in narcotics other than the false allegations in the 2015 Daily Beast article. (NAN)
NEWS
Adeleke Approves Adeyemi’s Appointment As Chairman, Governing Council, Osun State College of Education
Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke has approved the appointment of Akinyele Sarafa Adeyemi, as the new Chairman of the Governing Council of the Osun State College of Education, Ila Orangun.
This was detailed in a statement in Osogbo on Friday by Spokesperson to Governor Adeleke, Olawale Rasheed.
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According to Rasheed, Adeyemi replaces Dr Peter Babalola who resigned his appointment after a controversial tenure at the College of Education.
He stated that “Adeyemi who holds a first and Masters degrees in Education from the University of Ibadan is a retired principal of the Federal Girls College, Ipetumodu.”
It was gathered that the swearing in ceremony for the new Council Chairman holds by 10am on Monday at the EXCO lounge.
The Committee on Consequential Adjustments in Salaries for Civil Servants has confirmed that the newly approved minimum wage will be implemented starting July 29, 2024.
This was disclosed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) issued at the conclusion of the committee’s meeting in Abuja on Friday.
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The MoU reads, “The National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission (NSIWC) will prepare and release the necessary salary templates for other consolidated salary structures. The implementation date for the new wage will take effect from July 29, 2024.”
The committee, comprising 16 members, was set up to oversee the execution of the National Minimum Wage Act of 2024. This legislation raised the country’s minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000.
Among its key responsibilities, the committee is tasked with negotiating salary adjustments across various sectors and developing a template for implementing the newly approved wage structure.
With the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popular in the streets as petrol, hovering around approximately N1000-N1300 per litre, concerns are mounting about the viability of fuel subsidies in Nigeria.
Energy policy analyst, Adeyemi Adeoye, has underscored the critical role of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) in this issue, shedding light on who bears the subsidy costs.
He shared his views on TVC News on Friday.
Biztellers reports that the pump price of petrol has risen from below N200/litre at at May 29, 2023 to around N1300/litre as at September 20, 2024, with little variations depending the part of Nigeria, consumers are buying from.
Read More: Fuel Pricing Should Serve Public Interest, Not Profit — Yemi Adeoye
He stated, “Only the NNPC can engage in negotiations of this nature. Their partnership with the Dangote Refinery gives them leverage to negotiate from a position of strength.”
Adeoye highlighted that while the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and other marketers lack significant influence over prices, the Dangote Refinery prioritizes profitability.
According to him, this makes the NNPC’s negotiations vital, as they are legally required by the Petroleum Industry Act to ensure fuel availability across the country and prevent long queues at gas stations.
Adeoye said, “It is only NNPC that could have gone into that type of negotiation because NNPC is coming to the table from a position of strength because they have a partnership with the Dangote Refinery, and they have other businesses they are supplying crude to, so they can come and say, ‘Look, this has to be this way.’
“The IPMAN and the other marketers cannot do that because Dangote is a profit-making organization; it is not a charity organization. So, the only thing that is important to the Dangote Refinery is to make a profit, which is the same thing that is important to any business.
“So, the NNPC went into these negotiations because it also understands that it is the last resort. In terms of fuel distribution in the country, NNPC is mandated by the Petroleum Industry Act to make sure that there are no queues in the country. So, even if they don’t want to do it, the law mandates NNPC as the supplier, the last resort, to make sure that there is petroleum product across Nigeria.
“That negotiation is such that NNPC took all the calculations in and said, ‘This is a fair pricing that we know we can withstand.’
“Because what NNPC was paying out, which you might call a subsidy or under-recovery, NNPC was paying the difference on behalf of the government, which is under the directive of the president, who has also said he wants to see this situation totally resolved.
“That was why he directed the NNPC to make sure that crude oil to the Dangote Refinery is sold in Naira, because NNPC produces the crude in dollars, and it has to be sold to the Dangote Refinery in Naira, which is good faith.” he added
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