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Tag: sowore

  • #RevolutionNow protest: FG charges Sowore with money laundering, treasonable felony

    The Federal Government on Friday charged the convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore, with treasonable felony and money laundering.

    Sowore, promoter of an online media platform – Sahara Reporters, who was also presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC) in the last presidential election, is charged along with Olawale Bakare, also known as Mandate, in a seven-count charge filed by the office of the Attornery General of the Federation.

    Sowore is currently being detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) upon an order of the Federal High Court, Abuja given on August 8, 2019, permitting the DSS to detain him for 45 days in the first instance, following the security agency’s claim that he was involved in acts of terrorism and plotted to topple the government; allegations he has since denied.

    The charge filed yesterday was signed on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), by Aminu Alilu, a Chief State Counsel in the Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federal Ministry of Justice.

    The two defendants are, in the charge, accused of committing conspiracy to commit treasonable felony in breach of section 516 of the Criminal Code Act by allegedly staging “a revolution campaign on September 5, 2019 aimed at removing the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    They are also alleged to have actually committed the offence of reasonable felony in breach of Section, 4(1)(c) of the Criminal Code Act, by using the platform of Coalition for Revolution, in August 2019 in Abuja, Lagos and other parts of Nigeria, to stagedthe #RevolutionNow protest allegedly aimed at removing the President.

    Sowore was, in the charge, accused of involvement in cybercrime offences in violation of section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention) Act, by “knowingly” sending “messages by means of press interview granted on Arise Television network, “which you knew to be false, for the purpose of causing insult, enmity, hatred and ill-will on the person of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    The state aso accused Sowore of money laundering offences in breach of section 15(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 by allegedly transferring by means of swift wire various sums of money from his United Bank of Africa Plc account with number 3002246104 into Sahara Reporters Media Foundation’s account with Guaranty Trust Bank in order to conceal the origin of the funds.

    He was alleged to have allegedly transfered $19,975 on April 2, 2019; $20,475 on May 21, 2019, $16,975 on June 27, 2019, and another $16,975 on July 16, 2019.

    Listed as exhibits to be relied upon by the prosection are Sowore’s written statement, transcripts of his statement, video recordings, audio recordings, statements of bank accounts, media publication and “any other exhibits the prosecution may later supply in its additional proof of evidence.”

    The prosecution also listed six specific witnesses to be called.

    They are Paul Clement, Moses Amadi, Cyril Odawn, Paul Okafor, UBA employee, GTB employee and “any other witness or witnesses to be supplied later in the additional proof of evidence.”

    The DSS arrested Sowore in Lagos on August 2, 2019, following his call for revolution in a protest he organised to take place in some major cities on August 5, 2019.

  • Tell Buhari to release Sowore, Kanu urges UN

    The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has asked the United Nations to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to release the convener of #Revolution now#, Omoyele Sowore and the Shiites leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky.

    IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said the demand formed part of the issues Kanu raised in a meeting with UN agencies recently.

    Powerful added that the issue of rural grazing area, otherwise known as RUGA, was also raised in the meeting.

    He said Kanu’s struggle to liberate his people had grown beyond Nigeria, adding that the issues were before the various arms and agencies of the United Nations.

    He said, “Biafra’s case will no longer be ignored; it has been internationalised.”

    He said Kanu demanded urgent action against the numerous rights abuses inflicted on his people and the need to support the undeniable right of the Biafran people to self-determination as enshrined in laws, statutes and UN conventions.

    The statement read in part, “Every issue concerning our people is now before the various arms and agencies of the United Nations. Our case will no longer be ignored.

    “The case of RUGA settlement was also raised in the meeting.

    “Incessant killing of Biafrans in their own land by terrorist Fulani herdsmen, extortion and killing of Biafran motorcyclists and commercial drivers by Nigerian army and police over refusal to give N50 bribery.”

    Powerful said Kanu was accompanied by his deputy, Uche Mefor, Head of Directorate of State, Mazi Chika Edozien and others.

  • Sowore seeks bail in fresh court application

    Sowore seeks bail in fresh court application

    In a fresh application filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, Mr Omoyele Sowore, Convener of #RevolutionNow protest, who is being held by the Department of State Services, has asked for bail in liberal terms.

    Sowore filed the fresh application on Friday after his failed bid to have the court hear his earlier one challenging the detention order issued against him by Justice Taiwo Taiwo on July 8, 2019.

    The affidavit he filed in support of the application stated in part, “That the applicant (Sowore) herein has never been charged with any criminal offence whatsoever.

    “That the Nigeria police also conducted investigation on the matter and made its findings public.

    “That the persons who participated in the protests of August 5, 2019, were charged with the offence of unlawful assembly at the Magistrates’ Court in Ebute Meta, Lagos State, Osogbo in Osun State and Calabar(Cross River).

    “That on August 9, 2019, the applicant filed an application to set aside, discharge and/or vacate the said ex parte order permitting his detention for 45 days.”

    The security agency had accused Sowore, the SaharaReporters publisher and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the last February 2019 poll, of planning to topple the President Muhammadu Buhari government, through the protest.

    Sowore denied the coup allegations insisting that he only mobilised Nigerians to protest against bad governance and other vices.

    Following an ex parte application by the DSS, Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the same Abuja division of the Federal High Court, on August 8, issued a detention order permitting the security agency to hold the activist for 45 days to enable it to conclude investigations.

    On August 9, 2018, Sowore, through his lead counsel, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), filed a motion challenging the detention order.

    But the efforts of his team of lawyers to make the court to hear the application which was filed over a month ago, have yet to yield any result.

    In his fresh application which he filed on Friday, Sowore’s lawyers argued that the DSS had completed its investigations, adding that by Section 28 (4) of the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013 “a person detained pursuant to Section 27 (1) can be admitted to bail by this honourable court.”

    One of his lawyers, Marshal Abubakar, who deposed to the affidavit filed in support of the application, prayed the court grant bail to Sowore in liberal terms, The Punch reports.

    He added that the activist had responsible persons who could stand as sureties for him.

    The supporting affidavit read in part, “That no criminal charge whatsoever has been brought against the applicant herein.

    “That the applicant undertakes not to interfere with the investigation of this case or make contacts with the witnesses of the respondent.”

  • Nigerian Government has no ground to detain my husband –Sowore’s wife

    Nigerian Government has no ground to detain my husband –Sowore’s wife

    Opeyemi, wife of pro-democracy activist and convener of RevolutionNow movement, Omoyele Sowore, has condemned the continued detention of her husband by the Nigerian Government, insisting that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has no ground upon which to detain him further.

    Appearing as a guest on Democracy Now, a television program in the United States, Mrs Sowore noted that the allegations made against her husband were baseless as the government was yet to back up the claims against him with evidence.

    She said, “There are no formal charges per say, he is just being investigated for possible treason and terrorism.

    “They based it upon a meeting that he had with Nnamdi Kanu, who has an organisation about Biafra.

    “The two of them met and Yele (Sowore) made it public. In fact, he disagrees with some of Nnamdi Kanu’s rhetoric.

    “Yele’s own thing was to bring in everybody’s voices so that Nigeria can be a country for pretty much all of its citizen.

    “They also mentioned that he may have taken money from international countries and that he met some of them in Dubai but he has never been to Dubai before. No money basically has been found with him.

    “So, those are the things that they’ve mentioned and associated with him but they basically have no ground for holding him and haven’t found any evidence.”

  • AAC expels Ezenwa, affirms Sowore as chairman

    The African Action Congress (AAC) has reaffirmed Mr Omoyele Sowore as its National Chairman, while expelling Mr Leonard Ezenwa, former Treasurer and Secretary of the party.
    Mr Joshua Adeoye, AAC Deputy National Secretary, read the resolution after an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party on Saturday in Abuja.
    Sowore is the National Chairman and the 2019 Presidential candidate of AAC, while Malcolm Fabiyi is the Deputy National Chairman of the party and both were suspended by Ezenwa’s faction.
    Adeoye said allegations against Sowore leading to his purported expulsion from the party were manufactured, adding that there was no case of financial impropriety against him.
    Adeoye noted that Sowore as a candidate declared campaign money, adding that he carried the people along as money was being spent up to the end of the campaign.
    “The NEC outrightly rejects, cancels, reverses and totally repudiates the purported suspension of Sowore and Fabiyi from their offices.
    “The NEC hereby affirms and reinstates Sowore as the one and only national chairman of AAC and Fabiyi as the deputy national chairman of the party.
    He said that all actions carried out by Ezenwa in the name of AAC including documents signed or authored by him ” are dismissed, set aside and nullified forthwith”.
    According to him, Ezenwa’s expulsion followed his failure to appear before the NEC to defend himself in line with article 80 of AAC constitution which found him guilty of the alleged offence.
    The highest decision making body of the party called for immediate arrest and prosecution of Ezenwa for alleged forgery and perjury among others criminal acts.
    AAC had been involved in leadership crisis leading to the removal of its presidential candidate by a Federal High Court in Abuja for alleged financial impropriety.
    Mr Inibehe Effiong, the National Legal Adviser of the party, however, said the party was not joined in the case filed by Ezenwa, adding that the person who also filed the case at the FCT High court was still unknown.
    Mr Murtala Adamu, Niger state Chairman moved for adoption of the resolution of the NEC, while Mr Rotimi Ogunlana, Chairman, Oyo state seconded the resolution.

  • Court upholds Sowore, Fabiyi’s suspension as AAC Chairman, Deputy

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has upheld the suspension of Omoyele Sowore and Malcom Fabiyi as the National Chairman and Deputy National Chairman of the African Action Congress (AAC).
    In a judgment Friday, Justice Inyang Ekwo equally upheld the appointment of Dr. Leonard Nzewa as the party’s acting National Chairman.
    Justice Ekwo granted all the reliefs sought in the suit filed by Nzewa, among which was for the court to affirm the decision of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to suspend Sowore and Fabiyi for six months at its meeting held on March 27, 2019.
    Sowore, who is the publisher of online news platform, Saharareporters, was the party’s presidential candidate in the February 23, 2019 election.
    The party’s NEC suspended him, Fabiyi and some others for allegedly engaging in anti-party activities.
    Justice Ekwo dismissed the objection filed by Sowore and Fabiyi against the suit on the grounds that they failed to personally depose to the counter-affidavit filed against the suit.
    The judge held that the deposition made on their behalf by Dr. John Adeoye would not be considered because Adeoye was not a party to the suit.
    He noted that it was an elementary principle of law that it was only a party to a case that could depose to an affidavit evidence in defence of his or her case.
    Justice Ekwo said the reasons given by Sowore and Fabiyi for being unable to depose to the affidavit,was untenable.
    On Adeoye’s deposition to the effect that Sowore and Fabiyi were unable to depose to the counter-affidavit personally because they were outside the country when the suit was filed, he said such an excuse did not portray them to be serious in defending the case.
    The judge noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to file any defence in the case.
    The judge ruled: “It is my opinion that Dr. John Adeoye is not a party in this case and cannot give evidence. I find that the evidence of Dr. John Adeoye goes to nought.
    “Anybody who does not take a suit instituted against him seriously must prepare to bear the brunt of his carelessness.
    “I find that the evidence of the plaintiff has not been challenged or controverted. I thereby ascribe probative value to it.
    “On the whole, the case ought to succeed, and I so hold.”

  • Nnamdi Kanu, Sowore meet in New York, vow to end oppression in Nigeria (Video)

    Nnamdi Kanu, the acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and Omoyele Sowore, founder of Sahara Reporters and also an aspirant at the last concluded general election, recently met in New York to strategize on what they describe as injustice in Nigeria.
    The two political leaders made their position known after a series of closed door meetings.
    In a Facebook live session to address the public, Sowore said; “We met to talk about things we’ve both been passionate about but on a different plane and we respect those boundaries but we’ve had very useful conversations today so that everybody that is aspiring for a fair and just society can come together and rise up now and bring an end to the sorrow and suffering and the domination and the oppression that has become almost synonymous with our generation and our genes in Nigeria.

    Those of you out there who think we have big differences and that we can’t talk, know that when people have revolutionary minds, these minds meet and bodies eventually meet.”
    Collaborating with Sowore, Kalu hailed the meeting describing it as liberation for those trapped in the contraption called Nigeria.
    “I met with my good friend Sowore and it has yielded today a confirmation that people can come together. There isn’t much of a difference for what we are fighting for because we are fighting for justice.
    We know and hope that the people that found themselves today trapped in that contraption called Nigeria will one day be free and it takes people to do it. I doubt it comes from heaven and we have to do it, we have decided to do it and it must be done,” he said.

  • 2019 presidential election: Sowore speaks on Soyinka’s endorsement of Moghalu

    The candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the forthcoming presidential election, Omoyele Sowore, on Friday said he is contented by the ‘endorsement’ of the Nigerian people.

    Sowore was reacting to Friday’s endorsement of Kingsley Moghalu, candidate of the Young Progressive Party, YPP, by Nigeria’s Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka.

    Recall that Soyinka had on Friday endorsed Moghalu’s candidature in his capacity as convener of the civic group, Citizen Forum.

    Earlier, Sowore had said that the literary icon would not endorse him as presidential candidate, urging his supporters to respect the Nobel Laureate’s choice nevertheless.

    But a statement signed Friday by Malcom Fabiyi, Director General of the Sowore 2019 Campaign on behalf of the AAC candidate, said Sowore is not threatened by the endorsement of rival candidates.

    “For the past year, Omoyele Sowore, leader of the Take it Back Movement and presidential candidate of the AAC has travelled across the 6 geopolitical zones, travelled to over 200 cities and towns within Nigeria, and engaged extensively with Nigerians at home and abroad to share his vision for birthing a vibrant and prosperous nation,” the statement said Friday evening.

    “Those consultations and engagements have created the broadest coalition of Nigerians that our nation has ever seen.

    “On our platform, those previously considered inconsequential – the voiceless, the teeming poor and the forgotten youth – have found a voice and an outlet for the realisation of a nation that works for all of her people.

    “We have said from the beginning that we do not believe in the politics of godfathers, godmothers or endorsements. Indeed, we seek to create a nation where the only opinions that matters, and where the only voices of influence are not those of privilege, power, status, or fame. The only endorsement that matters to us is the one the Nigerian people have already given us. We are the voice of the Nigerian people, and the only organic platform that will represent the interest of the Nigerian masses.”

    The AAC said that there is no presidential candidate that can boast of “the antecedents, the history of principled engagement, and the sacrificial participation in the struggle to move Nigeria forward that Omoyele Sowore has displayed over the last 30 years.”

    According to the party, from the fight to reverse the annulment of the June 12th 1993 elections, to the restoration of democracy in 1999, to the truncation of Obasanjo’s 3rd term bid, to the exposure of the Yar’Adua cabal’s bid to deny a constitutional transfer of power to a minority president, to the courageous real-time release of the 2015 poll results that helped to safeguard and ensure free and fair elections, Sowore has been at the forefront of pivotal political events of in country.

    The statement reads in part: “No other candidate has had this level of engagement. No other candidate can speak of a thirty-year consistency in their service to the nation. No other candidate has worked for the Nigerian people as thoroughly and comprehensively as Sowore has done.

    “No other candidate speaks to the aspirations of the Nigerian people with the authenticity that Sowore does. That authenticity is what has powered our party to becoming one of the three largest parties in the nation.”

    The party affirmed that on February 16th, the African Action Congress will be on the ballot and that day, Mr Sowore and the AAC will get the only endorsement that matters when the Nigerian people vote to elect him as the next president of Nigeria.

    “On February 16th 2019, the Nigerian people will speak with one voice, and that onerous voice of reason will trounce the dictates of godfatherism,” the statement said.

  • Buhari’s anti-corruption war targeted against non APC members – Sowore

    The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 general elections, Omoyele Sowore, has said the war on corruption by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government is selective and mainly against members of his party, All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Sowore said if elected into office, his government will use technology to end corruption.

    Sowore, who spoke during a TV programme tagged “Roadmap 2019” on Channels TV on Monday night, said he will use ‘digital tools ‘ to win the war against corruption.

    He questioned the current anti-corruption war saying it was a joke.

    “The moment you are in APC, you are sanctified and the moment you are out of the APC, suddenly your corruption record makes it to the surface,” the Sahara Reporters publisher noted. “They are just playing with our minds because we are not delivering consequences on the corrupt people the way it should.”

    Comparing Nigeria to the United States of America (USA), where he resided, Sowore said: “in the U.S., even when you are pleading innocence, there has to be documentation to show that this is what you said and can be made available to the public. We don’t do that here and that why the corruption war in Nigeria is a joke.

    “We will use technology to ensure that so many of the things we are still hard-coding now will be digitalised, including the contracting system. For example, every form that is signed by public office holder in Nigeria through the code of conduct bureau should be available to public,” he said.

    He gave further details on how he hopes to curb graft if elected.

    “We should be able to search everybody that is on Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)… Who has a company in the country so that when a contract is awarded to somebody and he has a 9-year-old boy in the board of their company, we can find out immediately.

    “If somebody is declaring asset he doesn’t have, when you ‘download’ them, you will be able to question the person and raise the alarm,” he explained.

    Speaking on why he is running for the presidency, instead of contesting for a local position as he has been challenged in the past, Mr Sowore said: “When a country is rotten, you cannot fix it by going to the local government.

    “When nations have problems that are created by the very top, you solve them by starting at the very top. If you want to make an impact or when nations are looking for people to change their countries, they look for people who are the best to start at the top because the top is the most important part of a political system,” he said.

    He said he has never “been disengaged from politics” bue has “just not been playing partisan politics”.

    The presidential election is scheduled to hold on February 16, 2019.

     

  • Make me your Vice-president –Duncan Mighty begs Sowore

    Make me your Vice-president –Duncan Mighty begs Sowore

    Afro-pop star, Duncan Mighty has declared that he would love to be Omoyele Sowore’s running mate.

     

    The singer noted that Rabiu Ahmed Rufai, who currently occupies the position, is not doing enough on the campaign front.

    Duncan Mighty feels he should be proffering solutions on how the country’s healthcare sector can be restored.

    The singer said in a series of video posted on Instagram, “Nigeria needs solution experts who are able to go into the street.
    “A man like Sowore needs a man like Duncan Mighty to tell him whatever you say can be done.

    “Someone was telling me that Sowore already has a vice-presidential candidate and I went to his page and realised that this guy is a doctor and he has only 15 posts of pictures.
    “He is supposed to let us know, as a doctor, that Nigeria should be the leading health nation.

    “Nigeria should be that nation where everybody from outside should come have the best healthcare. For this reason, I will demand a debate.
    “It is high time we realise that it is not only when Mr President travels that the vice-president should work.

    “Go to Sowore’s page, you will realise that he has over 543 posts concerning how Nigeria is going to get better.”

     

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