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Restructuring : “1999 Constitution Is a fake document”, When I Canvassed for an amendment in the constitution, Obasanjo almost punched me, Says Olanipekun
A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said, on Wednesday, that former President Olusegun Obasanjo almost punched him for advising that the 1999 Constitution be amended when Obasanjo was the sitting President.
Olanipekun said while delivering the Convocation Lecture of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.
The theme of the lecture was: “Mass Exodus Of Human Capital In Nigeria: An Anatomical Analysis of The Causes and Effects.”
Olanipekun, who described the 1999 Constitution as a fake document, said it was to blame for the myriad challenges bedevilling the country.
“Every governor goes to Abuja now everyday and who do they go to see, directors, deputy directors. Is this federalism?
“We need a constitution with a humane face. I’m a lawyer but we are deceiving ourselves; our constitution is fake and I have said this over and over, but then as lawyers you will ask us, if we say the constitution is fake, why are we practising it?
“Lawyers and judges apply the law as it is, not the law as it ought to be; so we apply the law as we have it now and we have been pleading that we should amend the constitution, let us overhaul it. I, as President of the NBA, I led a delegation of the association to President Obasanjo in 2022; he almost boxed me.
Obasanjo meets Ohanaeze leaders in Imo
“I am here in Ogun State and I’m saying this, he is still alive, he said, ‘No, you can’t change it’. I said, ‘Mr. President, let us seize this opportunity to do it’ and we also appeal to the powers that be now, to our President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that the time for us to restructure this country is now. If we do not do it, these children that we have abroad might not return home, they won’t come here.”
Olanipekun said the current situation of the country was so scary that those living abroad would never come to Nigeria.
He said, “we are living in dangerous and hard times; our Obas in Yorubaland are being killed, being slaughtered like chickens. The Olufon of Ifon was slaughtered by the roadside about three years ago; two days ago in Ekiti, two Obas were slaughtered, one of them was an Associate Professor at Federal University of Technology, Akure.
“For those who are there (abroad), when they hear the news, will they want to come home? They ask where do I come to? Nobody wants to come and die, nobody wants to die young, but our Obas are dying even in the gutters.
“Joblessness, bad economy, frustration, man’s inhumanity to man, awkward federation that we described as federalism, we are running a unitary government, I’m a product of federalism. I was schooled in the Old Western Region, we were proud of that unlike what we have nowadays.
“We need a system whereby when these children leave schools, they get employed and if they don’t secure one, the state must cater for them. You can’t just say let them go and fend for themselves. Yes, they should fend for themselves but provide the enabling environment for that.”
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Update : Road Crash: Anthony Joshua Hospitalised, Two Confirmed Dead — Ogun Police Spokesperson
Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has been hospitalised after a road accident in the Makun area of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State.
Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Babaseyi Oluseyi, confirmed this in a statement.
The incident occurred shortly after 11 am on Monday.
Our reporter, who was at the scene, said the crash happened just before the Danco Filling Station in Makun, ahead of the Sagamu Interchange on the Ibadan-bound axis.
Adeniyi Orojo stated that the Lexus Jeep carrying Joshua, with number plate KRD 850 HN, collided with a stationary truck.
The eyewitness revealed that Joshua sustained minor injuries, while two others died at the scene.
“It was a two-vehicle convoy: a Lexus SUV and a Pajero SUV. Joshua was seated behind the driver, with another person beside him. A passenger sat beside the driver, making four occupants in the Lexus that crashed.
His security detail followed in the vehicle behind.
“Other eyewitnesses and I began the rescue and flagged down oncoming vehicles for help. Minutes after the crash, Federal Road Safety Corps officials arrived. The passenger beside the driver and the person beside Joshua died on the spot,” he said.
In a statement sent to Newsthumb on Monday, Oluseyi confirmed that Joshua and other injured persons were involved in a car accident and rushed to an undisclosed hospital.
He said, “The Ogun State Police Command confirms a road accident today in front of Sinoma, before Danco, along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway. Anthony Joshua and other injured persons have been rushed to the hospital.
“Further updates will be communicated.”
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Tinubu Leaves Nigeria for Europe, UAE to Attend ADSW 2026 Summit, Says Onanuga
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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu departed Lagos on Sunday, December 28, for Europe, continuing his end-of-year break and ahead of his official trip to Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed AlNahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, has invited President Tinubu to participate in the 2026 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW 2026) Summit, which will take place in the emirate early in January.
The weeklong summit is an annual event that mobilises leaders from government, business, and society to chart the next era of sustainable development.
With the theme “The Nexus of Next: All Systems Go”, ADSW will connect ambition with action across innovation, finance, and people, showcasing how the world can move forward with confidence.’
The President will return to the country after the Summit.
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BREAKING: Fayose Alleges N45.5bn from N50bn Ibadan Explosion Fund Diverted by Makinde for Political Ambitions
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Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has released what he described as documentary evidence to support his claim that Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, received N50 billion from the Federal Government as a special intervention fund following the January 2024 explosion in Ibadan.
Fayose made the documents public on Sunday in a statement accompanied by a memo from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
He said the disclosure followed a challenge by Makinde to substantiate his earlier claim that the Oyo State Government received the funds.
“Two days ago, I stated on national television that Oyo State under Governor Seyi Makinde received N50bn from the Federal Government as intervention for the Ibadan explosion. Yesterday, the governor asked me to provide evidence, and here is the evidence he requested,” Fayose said.
The former governor further alleged that only N4.5 billion was disbursed to victims of the explosion, accusing Makinde of diverting the remaining funds for personal political ambitions.
“Only N4.5bn was paid to victims of the Ibadan explosion. The rest, alongside other intervention funds, was diverted to fund his presidential ambition. This, in part, explains the crisis in the PDP and his frequent attacks on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration,” he alleged.
Fayose further said he was compelled to release official documents, despite his reluctance to do so, in the interest of transparency and public accountability.
“Even though it is not in my character to go public with official government documents, I had to do this so Nigerians will know who is saying the truth and who has not been sincere with the people of Oyo State,” he said.
The former governor said that Makinde’s alleged disclosure of detail from private meeting with President Tinubu made fuller public disclosure necessary.
He challenged the governor to take legal action if he believed the allegations were false, insisting that he had sufficient proof to defend his claims.
“I challenge Governor Seyi Makinde to sue me on this. There are also proofs of other intervention funds received from Tinubu’s administration by the Oyo State Government which the governor refused to disclose to the people,” he said.
He further claimed to have documentary evidence of Oyo State’s actual Internally Generated Revenue, contrary to figures publicly stated by Makinde, noting that he would release the details at a later time.
“There are documentary evidences on the actual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Oyo State, as against Governor Makinde’s claim, but we will keep our gunpowder dry for now.
“My name is still Ayo Fayose. I don’t say what I can’t prove,” he said.
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