Author: Lawal AbdulSalam Olawale

) A former board member of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Oluwafidipo Falade, was laid to rest at his Sango-Ota residence in Ogun, on Saturday.

Falade died Oct. 19, at the age of 70.

In a sermon held in Agege, Lagos before the interment, Ven. Sup. Evang. Adebayo Johnson, of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), Mafoluku, Phase 1, described the late Falade as a a father, mentor and source of inspiration in his lifetime.

Johnson, who drew his Bible reference from the book of Revelation 14, verses 6-13, charged everyone to prepare for eternity while still living in this world.

`Make your decision now that you are still alive on where you want to be after death,” he said.

Sup. Evang. David Omotola, one of the officiating ministers, described Falade as a dedicated member of the Parish who gave his moral and financial support for the development and progress of the church.

“ We have lost a great member in the person of our Special Most Superior Evangelist Falade, a strong member, a giver, supporter and active; however, we believe that God loves him more,” Omotola said.

Oluwaseun Falade, first son of the deceased, in an interview with NAN, described his late father as a man of honour, with high principles and standards, blunt, a life-changer, mentor, accommodating and honest.

He said that his father was passionate about progress and community development, and was privileged to serve the country under PDP and later APC.

“We used to quarrel a lot, but I must declare that he was a loving father, prayerful, approachable, kind- hearted, dedicated to the service of God, and humanity.

“ His demise has created a vacuum which no one can fill in my heart and family, I will really miss him, but will continue from where he stopped and even surpass his feats,” he added.

Alhaji Olawale Mogaji, Otun-Balogun of Epe Kingdom and former Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Service Commission, (LAHASCOM), said that late Falade was a man of peace and lived an exemplary life.

According to him, Falade impacted lives and was recognised in his community, which made him to rise up to the level of community leader, a former board member of NAN and of Lagos State Cooperative College Governing Council.

In a tribute, Mr Tosin Osunnuga, Secretary, Lekki Local Council Development Area, said that late Falade was a man with high native intelligence, which gave him an edge and helped in proffering solutions to community crises in the community.

“ Your efforts to ensure that everyone, both indigenes and non-indigenes, are given fair treatment by investors in Lekki and Lagos Free Trade Zone will not be forgotten,” he said.

Falade was also Community Representative and Board Director, Lekki Worldwide Investment Limited, and Baale of Ebute Kosu in Lekki, LCDA.(

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that one of its supervisory presiding officers, who was abducted on the eve of the governorship election in Bayelsa State

The victim, who was abducted at the Amassoma jetty in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, regained his freedom on Saturday.

This was confirmed in a statement by Wilfred Ifogah, INEC’s Head of Department of Voter Education and Publicity in Bayelsa State., has been released.

In the official statement, Ifogah said: “The Independent National Electoral Commission, Bayelsa State Office, is pleased to inform stakeholders and concerned citizens in Nigeria that the INEC SPO earlier abducted on the eve of the election has been freed and is doing fine.”

INEC had earlier reported the abduction of one of its supervisory presiding officers in Bayelsa State on the eve of the election. The officer was assigned to Registration Area 06 (Ossiama) in Sagbama LGA and was abducted whil

The Labour Party governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, Udengs Eradiri, on Saturday, faulted the conduct of Saturday’s governorship election in the state, saying it was fraught with irregularities bordering on alleged selling and buying of votes.

He also claimed that the identities of LP polling agents were changed by INEC prior to election day.

Speaking in an interview with reporters after casting his vote in his Agudama-Ekpetiama community, Yenagoa Local Government Area, Eradiri said, “Unfortunately, vote-buying was the order of the day, and the people were encouraging it and being bought.

“I was talking to somebody, and the person was telling me that she was ready to sell her vote for me, and I told her I can’t buy votes. Secondly, I didn’t contest because I’m looking for people to induce to be governor. I came to the contest because I felt that things were not right, and I felt that I could do things differently.

Behind the scenes, you see the buying and selling of votes going on, as you vote you collect your tallies, and you can see people are showing their votes to confirm. So, people don’t care about what you do. All they are after is money.”

Shedding light on the alleged changing of the names of LP polling unit agents, he said: “In our case, we had filled the forms, 2, 244 agents complete. INEC sent printed tags and on the tags, especially four local government collation agents, which were our local government chairmen, but on the tags, it’s your name but not your face.

“They just mixed the faces, so it was deliberate. So I insisted and called the national chairman (of INEC) and we sent him a letter. So we have a received copy from INEC. Given that these are errors that you committed because you printed the tags, you didn’t ask us to print them. We filled out forms on the portal, but when you printed them, the names were different. The names were different from the faces. Our agents were refused in a lot of polling units because this problem was deliberately put.”

The LP standard bearer blamed the electorate for the inability of the state to make progress in terms of good governance, quality leadership, and development, saying that he was disappointed in the system.

“I am disappointed. I’m disappointed not with the process alone but with the people themselves because I thought that the people understood now because everybody has seen the nakedness of poverty, neglect, and incompetence of leadership and so that will define the voting pattern, but I was fooled.

“People don’t care about the educational situation and economic situation. All people care about is money in their hands. And that’s why I feel very sad because probably I misjudged the people before I decided to embark on this journey. I thought that the people, going through this process, they would have been able to express it in the ballot.”

The mobile telecommunication corporation, MTN, has alluded to the recent debt cancellation status on its subscribers’ network as a system error.

The network provider made this known in a tweet on its official handle on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.

The firm explained that an unexpected glitch in its system caused the cancellation of debt owed by its network subscribers, stressing that the debt status remained unchanged.

Recall that Netizens have expressed their satisfaction with the debt cancellation, with many believing that MTN deliberately erased their debts.

One user, Fatai said, “Debt has been paid. MTN debtors, check your account, MTN don clear una gbese

Another user, Ikechukwu Amara, said, “What a time to be alive. I actually thought it was a joke until I did it myself, my N5,000 debt has been cancelled.”

Too Cute, another X user opined that MTN is doing giveaways to its customers across the country, and that’s why they cancelled all the debt owed

.However, one Bukola declared that MTN could never give anything free without them benefitting in the end, adding, “Una dey trust company for this country. How will MTN which is facing this economic downturn, dash Nigerians such huge money? How will they make it up? This one na Shege pro max all of una go see (sic).

Reacting, MTN on its support handle wrote, “Yello, we are aware that some of our customers’ xtratime debt was cleared. It was a system glitch, the airtime was not cleared.

“The issue is receiving attention from our support team and feedback will be shared once received. Thank you,” it stated

The National Industrial Court (NIC) has restrained the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) as well as their affiliates from embarking on any form of strike or industrial action.

The two major labour unions were on Friday evening ordered to stop their nationwide strke action scheduled to commence on November 14, 2023.

President of the Court, Justice Benedict Bakwaph Kanyip issued the restraining order following an ex-parte application to that effect brought before the Court by the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice.

Justice Kanyip invoked Sections 17 and 19 of the National Industrial Court Act to issue the restraining order against the labour unions.

The Federal Government and the AGF through their lawyer, Tijani Gazali (SAN) had, in the ex-parte application prayed the court to stop the planned strike action so as to stop untold hardship that would be inflicted on innocent law abiding citizens and their businesses.

Gazali, who is the Director of Civil Appeals in the Federal Ministry of Justice while arguing the ex-parte application, drew the attention of Justice Kanyip to series of hardships suffered by Nigerians on Thursday alone when the labour unions blocked entrances to the main airports in the country.

He pleaded that, unless the planned strike action is stopped, there may be likelihood of breach of peace and tranquility in the country.

The judge, who was persuaded by the Federal Government’s arguments, in a short ruling said, it is within the power of the court to intervene by way of a restraining order to ensure peace and tranquility.

He proceeded to grant all the requests of the Federal Government as contained in the motion paper.

Besides, Justice Kanyip directed that the restraining order be pasted on the wall of the Labour House, being the last known address of the two defendants to draw their attention to the court’s position.

The judge also directed that the order, along with the originating and other processes be served on the defendants by publication in two major national dailies.

Meanwhile, the case file has been transferred to Justice Olufunke Yemi Anuwe who was said to be handling similar labour dispute related matters between the two parties.

Justice Anuwe, the President of the Court said, would issue a hearing notice to the parties at the appropriate time.

Meanwhile, the NLC and the TUC on Friday declared that they would commence a nationwide industrial action starting from midnight of Tuesday, 14 November, 2023 in protest against the brutal attack on Comrade Joe Ajaero in Imo State.

Members of all the affiliate unions of the two labour centres across the nation will withdraw their service until a contrary directive is given to them.

NLC General Secretary, Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja, reiterated this in Abuja at a press conference where the Congress president, Joe Ajaero, addressed the press on his ordeal in the hands of his adductors in Owerri.

“We will not accept the torture, humiliation, brutalization of a citizen, a citizen that has global stature. There have been calls from all over the world to clarify what transpired and the state of Joe Ajaero. So, if people from across the world are calling, and your own country is not speaking, it means that there is something they know that we do not know.

“So, from Tuesday, the Nigerian workers under NLC and TUC will be withdrawing their services. President of NLC and his team were used as the point of contact, hundreds of workers were actually brutalized. Their phones, money and wallets taken. He is just the figurehead of what transpired. And as we speak nothing has been done. So, we cannot continue like this as a nation.”

Ajaero explained that the labour action in Owerri had already been planned as part of the congress’s action-plan to protest in some states where workers’ rights were being trampled upon as NLC’s national headquarters did in PortHarcour, Rivers State and Kaduna, Kaduna State in defence of their members in the recent past.

In reaction to a question on the timing of the protest, he said NLC wisely decided to take action now than wait for a new government to emerge in Imo. “People would have still asked what we were waiting for all the years if we had waited for a new government to emerge in Imo State. Our mission in Imo was purely for the interest of workers. How can a state governor not have money to pay workers but has enough to settle certain elders of the state monthly?”

Furthermore, he narrated: “We heard that the workers who had arrived at the protest venue as early as 7am were beaten and chased away. So, I arrived there by 9am with about 20 security personnel and was about to address journalists on the situation of things when the police and other people in mufti came in and withdrew all the security there. They arrested me and handed me over to thugs who dragged me on the ground, hit me with all manners of things and blind folded me.

“They started asking me why I was challenging Governor Hope Uzodinma and that I should say my last prayers that they were going to throw me into Njaba River. They said I am playing local politics. But I do not know which one is local politics. I am not a card carrying member of any political party in Nigeria. And as a governor he should be privileged to some classified information to say which political party I belong. But I thank God that I am a alive today. Whoever that has diverted the workers money, has diverted blood money and has attracted a generational curse.

“For those who said I was in Imo to aid election of my family members, I am not sure that any body from my village is contesting for even counselorship election, not to talk of me family. Anybody that is supporting the non-payment of workers salaries, him and his family, if they work, they will not it. That is the mission. It is a devine mission.

“I do not have any family members or whatever running for election but they are free to run if they are interested. If I want to run for any office tomorrow I will pick the form of any party. There is no law that forbids a civil servant from contesting elections. The appeal court has also made it clear that you do. It need permission for a protest or rally. You only inform the security.

“There were some media organizations that their staff were humiliated on that day. Two TVC staff were handcuffed. Were they also playing politics? And the TVC has kept criminal silence about it. Why has the NUJ not said a word about the humiliation of journalists? Not even my death could have stopped the struggle for the payment of those workers. If I had died in the process, the people that would take over, would be more daring.

“Any of the deputies here that would take over, would have been more decisive. So no body is backing out, it is a question of allowing justice to prevail and the people you are owing you pay them.”