Author: Lawal AbdulSalam Olawale

Seyi Tinubu, the son of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has debunked the claims making rounds on the internet that he donated a sum of 15 million naira to the son of the late Nigerian rapper, Mohbad.

Since the death of the ‘peace’ hitmaker was announced on September 12, Nigerians have continued to seek justice over his death and have equally raised millions of naira for the rapper’s 5-month-old son, Liam.

In a new development regarding the donations on Thursday, there were reports that Seyi Tinubu had joined the long list of Nigerians donating to the late rapper’s son’s account.

The report, posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Dada Olusegun, an aide to President Tinubu, claimed that the President’s son had supported the late rapper’s son with 15 million naira. He also posted an alleged receipt of the transaction.

However, while refuting the claim on X a few hours later, Japheth Omojuwa, a popular political commentator and an ally of Seyi, stated that no such donation was made.

According to him, Seyi Tinubu, like every other Nigerian, expressed deep concern over the untimely death of Mohbad but did not make the alleged 15 million naira donation.

He added that although Seyi is committed to supporting the late rapper’s wife and son, he did not make the purported donation.

He wrote in part: “Seyi Tinubu didn’t donate N15m to Mohbad’s kid or family. I would know because I have been discussing the issue with him for several days.

I said not to get sucked into the social media thing because whatever he said or did would be politicized. I then went on to say, irrespective of that, we should prioritize his family, especially his kid. He said he’d commit to the kid’s education and also support the wife immediately. But we also knew there was still a danger of that getting used against him politically – that’s the world we now live in. It is what it is, it’s why one can only move the best way one can.”

Affirming the authenticity of Omojuwa’s statement, Seyi Tinubu took to his verified Instagram account to repost the full statement on his Instagram stories.

The Senate Committee on Entertainment Economy, led by its Chairman, Senator Elisha Abbo on Thursday paid a condolence visit to the late Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, aka ‘Mohbad’ family.

Abbo who was accompanied by Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh visited and commiserated with Mohbad’s mother as seen in photos now widely posted on social media.

Mohbad died on Tuesday, September 12, in a controversial manner, sparking outrage on social media.

Following the singer’s death, #JusticeForMohbad rallies have been held across different locations in the country.

There are speculations linking Mohbad’s death to a rift with his former label boss, Azeez Fashola ‘Naira Marley’, and socialite Samson Erinfolami ‘Sam Larry’.

Recall that the Lagos State Police Command said it has commenced a full investigation into the death of the singer.

“Consequent upon the growing public concerns and the preliminary police review of the general circumstances surrounding the death of Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba aka Mohbad, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Idowu Owohunwa, has directed the commencement of full-scale criminal investigation into the case,” the statement partly reads.

Veteran journalist Hamisu Danjibga, a reporter with Voice of Nigeria (VON) in Zamfara state who was declared missing has been gruesomely murdered at his residence in Gusau metropolis in the state.

Danjibga was declared missing by family, friends and colleagues on Sunday and were struggling to know Wheabouts, until Wednesday evening when his Dead body was discovered dumped in a soak away behind his house in Yelwa Samaru area in Gusau, the state capital.

Zamfara State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in a statement issued on Thursday by the council secretary Ibrahim Ahmad regrets to announce the death of Danjibga whose body was found in a sock away behind his house three days after missing.

The discovery of his corpse was a result of unpleasant odour observed by Islamiya Children in the evening of Wednesday 20th September 2023 who drew the attention of their teachers”.

“After breaking the sock away the dead body was confirmed to be that of Danjibga by his family and some neighbours. His funeral rites have since been observed according to Islamic injunctions”.

“The Union extends its heartfelt condolence to the family, Voice of Nigeria and the entire Zamfara state”.

“The Council while expressing deep concern over the nature of Danjibga’s demise, appealed to security agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to justice”

An Ibadan-based lawyer, Mutalubi Adebayo, SAN, has given Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, a 10-day ultimatum to pay arrears of allowances owed retired and serving judges in the state or face legal action.

Adebayo, in a statement dated Thursday, September 21, signed by himself, and obtained by our correspondent in Osogbo, said that should Adeleke refuse to yield to the request, by September 30, legal action to compel him to pay up would commence in a court of competent jurisdiction on October 3.

The lawyer, who confirmed being the author of the statement in a message to our correspondent, also noted that besides the arrears of outstanding allowances, he would also claim interest and aggravated damages in respect of the unpaid entitlements.

Adebayo’s statement further read in parts, “This serves as a notice to the Governor, the Government and the Judicial Service Commission of Osun State of Nigeria that if all the arrears of allowances being owed all the Judicial Officers in the state (both serving and retired) from the tenure of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola till date are not liquidated on or before the 30th day of September 2023, I, JCI Senator Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo, SAN, shall on the 3rd day of October 2023 commence legal action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover the full amount of the said unpaid allowances from the Government of Osun State and its Judicial Service Commission.

“Take further notice that I will also claim interest and aggravated damages in respect of those unpaid allowances because the acts of the Government of Osun State in refusing to pay same over the years amount to sheer callousness, recklessness, disregard for rule of law, indecent and unfair.”

However, the spokesperson to the governor, Olawale Rasheed, had yet to react to the statement as of the time of filing the report

The Federal Government has expressed its desire to expand the scope of its National Fire Academy in Sheda, Abuja to allow for the training of private firefighters in order to stem cases of fire disasters in the country

Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo disclosed this on Wednesday night when he inspected facilities at the Academy.

He suggested the possibility of broadening the use of the National Fire Academy, Sheda, Abuja to accommodate private fire service men”, said; Babatunde Alao, his spokesman.

Speaking after his first official inspection tour of the academy, Tunji-Ojo said the facility has the capacity to play key roles in training safety officers who will be “on-the-ground” responders for the private sector.

He said; “A lot has been done, but there is still a lot more to be done. With what I have seen here, I can guarantee you that we will work very hard to see that this facility will not only be useful in training officers of the fire service but also for the private sector.

“We must make fire safety a personal affair. Every institution, commercial and social recreation centre should have certified fire and safety personnel, trained by this facility.”

According to him, the academy could serve various private sector players, saying, “a market, bank, hotel, mall, restaurant, or even ministries should have first responders who can administer basic fire fighting remedy while waiting for the arrival of a full operation squad of the country’s Fire Service.”

Dr Tunji-Ojo explained that the tour was to avail him of the situation of things at the facility and also see how fire service processes could be innovated to serve a broader spectrum in line with the #RenewedHope agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

“Today, we have over 3 million private guards certified by the NSCDC. We can have something similar for the fire service. We need private fire service men to enhance our service and response time. The President’s #RenewedHope agenda has charged us to be innovative if we must change the narrative.

As a matter of fact, this is another innovative way to generate revenue because we expect that anyone looking to become a safety or security guard should get trained and certified by this academy.”

The minister, who inspected the facility alongside the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Oluwatoyin Akinlade, was led on the tour by the Comptroller General of the Federal Fire Service, Jaji Abdulganiyu.