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Tag: Keyamo

  • Nigerians should be proud of Tinubu as president – Keyamo

    Nigerians should be proud of Tinubu as president – Keyamo

    Former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has said Nigerians should be proud of having Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president.

    He explained that the president can easily connect with other African leaders on such initiatives.

    Keyamo in a recent tweet said:: “A new crop of leaders are emerging in Africa that have clear ideas as to how they want their various economies and societies to be run so as to prioritise their self-sustenance and cultural imperatives over and above theories and conditionalities of the Western World and other bigger economies that do not sit well with their people.

    “We should be proud that we have @officialABAT at this time as President who, from a rich antecedent, knows all the nuances of how to grow a modern economy and can easily connect with other African leaders on such initiatives.”

  • After losing suit against Atiku, Keyamo heads to appeal court

    After losing suit against Atiku, Keyamo heads to appeal court

    Former Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Festus Keyamo, has decided to go on appeal over his suit seeking the arrest and prosecution former president Vice president, Atiku Abubakar

    Yesterday, the Federal High Court in Abuja had dismissed the suit which Mr Keyamo, then a spokesperson for the Presidential Campaign Council of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), filed in January against Atiku

    The judge, James Omotosho, dismissed the suit with an award of N10 million fine against Keyamo,
    describing the suit as frivolous and vexatious.

    The judge ordered him to pay N5 million to each of Atiku and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).

    Keyamo while reacting to the Judgement in statement signed by the assistant head of the law firm, John Ainetor, said the former Minister disagreed with the judge’s reasoning that the law enforcement agencies he asked the court to compel to investigate Atiku were not given enough time.

    “We are immediately filing an appeal against the said decision to the Court of Appeal as the struggle on this issue continues,” Mr Keyamo said in a statement released on his behalf by his law firm on Monday.

    “Earlier today (Monday), a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the case filed by Festus Keyamo, SAN, CON, against the candidate of the PDP in the last Presidential Election, Alhaji ATIKU Abubakar over the SPV saga principally because the court was of the opinion that the law-enforcement agencies were not given enough time to commence investigations before the suit was filed, amongst other sundry reasons.

    “Our client respectfully disagrees with the reasons for the said decision because the law-enforcement agencies did not indicate their willingness to commence investigations, even if they were given more time. We want to establish a legal principle that the society cannot wait as infinitum for law-enforcement agencies to do their statutory duties. The suit was designed to prompt the agencies to show their READINESS to investigate,” the statement which Mr Keyamo tweeted via his verified Twitter handle read in part.

    Keyamo had in the suit through his counsel, Festus Ukpe, sought an order of the court to compel the Code Of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and ICPC to invite or arrest Atiku, Nigeria’s former vice president.

    He asked the court to order the agencies to investigate and prosecute Atiku based on the claims contained in an affidavit deposed to by one Michael Achimugu, alleging that Atiku used a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to corruptly enrich himself while he was Vice President of Nigeria.

    In response to the suit, Atiku, through his counsel Mr Ozekhome, raised a preliminary objection to the suit, contending that Mr Keyamo lacked the basis to institute the said suit, having failed to disclose what he suffered over and beyond other members of the public.

    Mr Ozekhome further contended in his written brief that Mr Keyamo did not disclose any wrong done to him by Atiku or what damage he had suffered. He described the former minister as a busybody and meddlesome interloper, as the entire suit disclosed no reasonable cause of action whatsoever.

    Arguing the matter before the judge, Benson Igbanoi, a lawyer from Mr Ozekhome’s law firm, also argued that the suit constituted a gross abuse of office, the plaintiff being a public officer occupying a public office and using public funds to file and prosecute same.

     

     

  • Blinken’s call to Tinubu: Keyamo mocks Obi, says he should climb down from his high horse

    Blinken’s call to Tinubu: Keyamo mocks Obi, says he should climb down from his high horse

    … insists there’s clarity as to the basis of the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken’s call to @official ABAT

    Festus Keyamo, SAN has taken a swipe at LP’s presidential candidate Peter Obi advising him to climb down from his high horse after his attempt to query US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken’s call to President-elect Bola Tinubu.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports Keyamo who was apparently reacting to Obi’s comment that his call to Tinubu was ill-timed, the Minister of Labour and Productivity rubbished his position via his tweeter handle saying:

    “Your Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi, | am sorry, but there is clarity as to the basis of the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken’s call to @official ABAT and their pledge for support and cooperation.

    “It’s obvious that you and your supporters have overrated your noise and tantrums after the election as having any real effect internationally.

    “No, they have not had any such massive effect as you would wish. Unfortunately for you, the US have dealt with so many opposition figures around the world and they know exactly how to separate facts from fictions. They know you lost, fair and square.

    “They know that in a complex society like Nigeria you could not have won with your message of ‘religious war’.

    Keyamo further explained that:”They know you’re just a splinter of the main opposition, the PDP, so it amounts to delusions of grandeur to think that you won when you actually came third.

    They also know the declaration of a winner. They also know the declaration of a winner already announced by INEC has the force of law and is the only acceptable legal framework upon which to proceed than your Petition in court that is yet to be decided upon.

    “You really want this country to stand still because you have a case in court? Is that what we have practiced in this country for decades?

    “Recall, sir, that when you won your second term in office as Governor of Anambra State, your opponents were in the Tribunal when you were sworn in and you got congratulatory messages from across Nigeria and the world.

    ” Did you reject those congratulatory messages because your opponents were in court? Why are you now misleading these largely hapless mob trooping blindly after you? Why? As you are going about with this pretentious holier-than-thou attitude, a court of law just nullified the nomination of a number of your Party’s candidates at the last election.

    ” Are you not more worried about this development, even as it affects your own nomination as the Labour Party’s Presidential candidate? Mr. Peter Obi, your pontifications about the last are getting very worrisome they are beneath you

    “Party’s Presidential candidate” Mr. Peter Obi, your pontifications about the last Presidential election are getting very worrisome.They are beneath you. They are designed only to appeal to the mob.

    “You know you lost the election; we know you know; and you know we know that you know.

    “Please, come down from your high horse @ Peter Obi. There is still a lack of clarity on the basis of the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken’s call to APC’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu on 16th May 2023. The most fundamental tenet and core value of democracy is the rule of law.

  • LP members fight in court: Keyamo mocks Obi, says ‘miracle do de tire Jesus’

    LP members fight in court: Keyamo mocks Obi, says ‘miracle do de tire Jesus’

    Apparently mocking Labour Party’s Lamidi Apapa’s show of shame in court last Wednesday, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, SAN describes the action ‘miracle do dey tire Jesus’.

    Describing it as a miracle, Keyamo claimed it was God that set the confusion amongst those planning to thwart the May 29 swearing-in.

    Taking to his verified tweeter handle, Keyamo said: “God has set confusion in the midst of those who were planning to disrupt the swearing-in of @officialABAT on May 29th. They are now fighting publicly amongst themselves and disrupting their own affairs to the extent that the court did not even recognise any of them. Miracle do dey tire Jesus?.”

  • Keyamo sends warning message to ‘Obidients’ over presidential election tribunal

    Keyamo sends warning message to ‘Obidients’ over presidential election tribunal

    The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo has accused Labour Party followers of pressuring judges to annul Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s election at the February 25 poll.

    Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, respectively presidential candidates of the Labour Party, LP, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are in court to challenge the victory.

    In a Twitter post on Tuesday, Keyamo said a cross-section of youths have been issuing threats since the comments by Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed.

    The vice presidential candidate of the LP recently stated that the inauguration of the former Lagos governor would be against the Constitution.

    “We cannot have a President-elect when there has been a constitutional breach; swearing in Tinubu is as good as swearing in a military regime,” Datti Baba-Ahmed said.

    But Keyamo has warned “young and inexperienced ‘revolutionary’ wannabes who think they can intimidate our judiciary, goaded on by the now infamous interview of Baba Datti Ahmed.”

    According to him: “They should simply check the history of all dictators, both military and civilian, who tried to mess with our judiciary and how they ended up.”

    The APC chieftain further noted that he sees different posts where characters are “virtually ‘warning’ the judiciary.”

    Keyamo said the judiciary is one of the best in Africa and will not be “intimidated by any ‘fascist’ movement of nattering nitwits.”

    “If they think they’re doing their candidate any favour, then they should keep the threats and ridicule of the judiciary coming. They will learn their lessons in a very hard way,” he added.

     

  • OPINION: Nigeria’s burgeoning (Not Hollow) democracy – By Festus Keyamo, SAN

    OPINION: Nigeria’s burgeoning (Not Hollow) democracy – By Festus Keyamo, SAN

    In global diplomacy and international relations, Presidents of countries make decisions and take actions about other countries’ affairs (albeit within the limits of sovereignty of States in International Law) based on reports from official and diplomatic sources likely to have been conveyed through well-established channels of communications.

    Long epistles written in flowery or purple prose by bitter supporters of sore losers, posing as ‘concerned citizens’ (but in reality actuated by ethnic politics) do not fall within these official or diplomatic sources.

    It is befuddling that someone often celebrated for using a God-given talent to promote our African values, will so tragically degrade that same ethos by penning a letter that is so petty, so grovelling in its tone in urging a single foreign power to withhold a mere congratulatory message to our President-elect as if that is what actually validates our own democratic identity.

    It reflects a pathetic colonial mentality. It is even more ironic to realise that the same foreign power to which the obsequious appeal is directed is still grappling with the credibility of its own internal democratic process that produced its present leadership.

    More tragic is that some rabid supporters here are falling over themselves in deluded ecstasy for such a worthless letter that may not even be considered worthy enough, in a diplomatic sense, for the attention of even a stenographer to an Under Secretary in the US. Such only paints the picture of a band of drowning supporters clutching at any straw to stay afloat. As for the empirical fallacies contained in the letter, I will not bother myself here with a lengthy response as enough have been said in the last few weeks in respect of those specific issues and all the issues are before our Justices awaiting adjudication.

    But I have bad news for them: the stenographer will probably toss the letter into a trash bin with the conclusion that it is no more than the tantrums of a Trump reincarnate in Nigeria – those who refuse to accept obvious defeat! Yes, the US has the likes of that writer in their midst too!

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  • EFCC, ICPC to respond in Keyamo’s suit against Atiku

    EFCC, ICPC to respond in Keyamo’s suit against Atiku

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday, indicated its intention to respond in a suit filed by Festus Keyamo against Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Feb. 25 poll.

    This was also as Oluwakemi Odogun, lawyer to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), told Justice James Omotosho of a Federal High Court, Abuja of commission’s plan to file its response in the case.

    Keyamo, a spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), had instituted the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/84/2023 against Abubakar over allegations bordering on money laundering.

    Also joined as defendants in the suit include the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), ICPC and the EFCC as 2nd to 4th defendants respectively.

    Keyamo had earlier asked law enforcement agencies to arrest Abubakar based on an audio recording released by Michael Achimugu, his former aide.

    In the audio, the former vice-president was alleged to have explained how shell organisations were set up to divert public funds.

    NAN reports that Justice Omotosho had, on March 7, threatened to strike out the suit over Keyamo’s inability to diligently prosecute the case.

    Upon resumed hearing, Keyamo’s counsel, Okechukwu Uju-azorji, informed that the matter was slated for hearing.

    Uju-azorji said that the former vice president, the 1st defendant, served on him a preliminary objection and that they had responded.

    The lawyer said Abubakar, however, was not represented in court today to take his application.

    He prayed the court for an adjournment to enable the 1st defendant take his objection.

    Counsel to the EFCC, Senami Adeosun,, who also prayed the court for a short time to enable them file their process in the suit, said they were still within time to respond.

    Odogun, who represented ICPC, spoke in the same vein.

    “We were served on March 15 with the originating processes. We sought an adjournment since we are within time to file,” she said.

    The judge adjourned the matter until April 18 for hearing of the pending preliminary objection.

    Omotosho, who ordered that hearing notices be issued to Abubakar and CCB, that were not represented in court, directed that parties interested in filing any application should do so before the next adjourned date.

    In a preliminary objection filed by Abubakar’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, the ex-vice president sought an order striking out or dismissing the suit for being incompetent and want of locus standi.

    The lawyer, who argued that the suit be dismissed for want of jurisdiction, said the case failed to disclose reasonable cause of action against his client.

    But Keyamo, in a counter affidavit deposed to by Henry Offiah, a litigation clerk in his chamber, averred that the CCB, ICPC and EFCC failed to respond to the allegations he raised against Abubakar and indeed failed to take any steps to invite or arrest him for the purpose of investigating the allegations against him.

    He said on Jan. 16, he wrote a petition to the three agencies requesting them to invite former vice president for the purpose of conducting investigations into the said allegations.

    He said but they refused to commence any form of investigation with respect to the allegations leveled against him

    Keyamo said he was aggrieved and instituted the present action on Jan. 20.

    “The allegations made against the 1st defendant (Abubakar) are the subject matter of the investigation sought by the plaintiff and the plaintiff seeks reliefs against the 1st defendant,” the document read.

    He said it was in the interest of justice for the court to dismiss Abubakar’s preliminary objection.mnh

  • Keyamo reveals who directed Osinbajo to stay off Tinubu’s presidential campaigns

    Keyamo reveals who directed Osinbajo to stay off Tinubu’s presidential campaigns

    The spokesman of the Tinubu/Shettima campaign, Festus Keyamo has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari directed VP Yemi Osinabjo to stay off the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential campaigns.

    APC flagbearer Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday drew the curtain on his campaign rally in Lagos State, with Osinbajo not attending any of them.

    According to reports, Osinbajo had endured a frosty relationship with Tinubu during the APC presidential primaries in 2022 after contesting against his political godfather.

    Many said Osinbajo should have backed Tinubu during the party primaries having served as the Attorney General of Lagos State while Tinubu was governor.

    Speaking on Osinbajo’s absence in all of Tinubu’s presidential campaigns across the nation, Keyamo said the Vice President’s absence was due to Buhari’s directive.

    Speaking with DAILY POST, Keyamo recalled issuing a statement where Buhari directed Osinbajo and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, to stay off APC presidential campaigns.

    According to Keyamo: “There was an official statement where the president directed Osinbajo and Boss Mustapha to stay off the campaign and work while he campaigned for APC.

    “We issued a statement to this effect last year.”

  • What BVAS will address in Nigeria – Keyamo reveals

    What BVAS will address in Nigeria – Keyamo reveals

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has expressed confidence that the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation  System (BVAS) will help to eliminate money politics from the Nigeria elections.

    Festus Keyamo, spokesperson for APC PCC, stated this when he appeared at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja on Sunday.

    Keyamo, also Minister of State for Labour and Employment, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the introduction of BVAS electronic transmission of result from polling units.

    He said that with the introduction of the two technologies into Nigeria elections, gone were the days where electoral officers and security agencies were being paid to change result at collation centres.

    He said before now, money were being used to bribe security agencies and electoral official to alter results, but BVAS will take away that.

    “Let’s be honest. You can see it in one or two isolated units, Can you buy 40 million votes?

    “You see in one or two units people sharing money, you now say the whole election is tinted. That is not true. You can’t buy so many votes.

    “Even when you give people money to go and give me money to voters, they rather pocket the money, they will not give them they would rather beg them. So that’s the truth.

    “The money they’re use in those days is to bribe security agents, when they bring results to polling unit collation centre they would drive everybody, switch off light, switch papers before you come abracadabra has happened,” he said.

    Keyamo said that BVAS was a blessing to the Nigeria electoral System.

    “For me BVAS is a blessing. BVAS is a blessing because it will the emphasize money in politics.

    “From the unit level straight to the central server in Abuja. You can access the central server from the ward collation center but you cannot change it, but you can enter and see what has been transmitted to Abuja.

    “So when the wrong copy come from the unit you can compare and say this what has been transmitted to Abuja.

    “Who do you want to bribe there who nobody?

    “So for me, even BVAS has reduced the issue of money in politics, and I love that,” he said.

    Keyamo also suggested that INEC should have all party agents at the commission situation room where it collate all the result from PUs level.

    He said that that would ensure transparency and avoid dangerous mistake in the collation of results.

    “Let me tell you the danger about electronic transmission of result, it is very good but if you make any mistake and it is out already and you said no it was a mistake. I want to change it. You want to burn this country.

    “Even it was a genuine mistake. If for example you say 300 + 300. You now record 350.

    “And you say sorry it supposed to be 600. But you have already released 350. You can’t change it to 600 again. Even if 300+300 is correct. You can’t change it.

    “Because the person who in favour will start burning. That is the danger in electronic transmission,” he said.

  • Buhari acted on wrong advice over N500, N1000 notes – Keyamo

    Buhari acted on wrong advice over N500, N1000 notes – Keyamo

    The spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), Festus Keyamo, has said that President Buhari acted on a wrong advice to his directive on the naira swap policy.

    Recall that on Thursday, February 16, President Buhari in a national broadcast on the controversial policy, ordered that the old N200 banknotes remain in circulation till April 10, while the old N500 and N1,000 bills no longer serve as legal tender.

    The ensuing currency scarcity has led to protests across the country with several cases of ATMs destroyed, as well as banking facilities and property damaged.

    Speaking on Channels on Friday night, February 17, Keyamo said

    ‘’My view is that the President acted honestly without intention to slight the Supreme Court. But he may have acted on wrong advice. I did not give that advice; it is not my responsibility. I don’t know who gave that advice. I want to say this openly because tomorrow, people will ask me where I stood at this time.”he said

    The Minister of State for Labour stated that President Buhari’s speech acknowledged that there were certain matters in court and that the President believed he was playing safe by purportedly intervening to quell the growing tension across the country.

    “He thought he was playing safe by saying, ‘Before you decide this matter in court, may I just provide some middle ground so that country burning, there are riots everywhere, so let me just try and provide some succour to the people, whilst acknowledging the matters are in court.

    Now, if I were to advise him, I would have advised differently. I did not advise him. It’s not my responsibility; I don’t know who.”

    Asked what his counsel to the President would have been, Keyamo said it would be for him to “comply strictly with the terms of the order of the Supreme Court, [which is that] all the old notes should circulate for now side by side with the new notes because that is the order of the Supreme Court.”

    He added that by virtue of the constitution, “all authorities in Nigeria must obey the orders of the Supreme Court, “adding that anything to the contrary is “a descent to anarchy.”