The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Sunday, strongly criticized ex-Rivers State Governor, Peter Odili, calling him a rent seeker and an ingrate for supporting the current Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.

Wike was responding to Odili’s recent statement that Fubara stopped him (Wike) from turning Rivers into his personal estate.

According to a statement on Sunday from his media aide, Leke Olayinka, Wike made his remarks at a Special Thanksgiving Service organized by the factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, at the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Oro-Igwe/Eliogbolo Archdeaconry Church of the Holy Spirit, Eliozu Parish, Port Harcourt.

Wike, who labeled Odili an ingrate, recounted how he built a house for the former governor and mentioned that Odili also had some of his family members in government positions, turning Rivers into his private estate.

“Must you be a trader all the time? As governor for eight years, what else are you looking for? You know, I didn’t want to say anything. But somebody called me last night, and told me what someone said in the social media. I said until I read it myself. This morning, I read in the newspapers, what our former Governor, Sir Dr Peter Odili said.”

“What did he say? He said that the present governor has been able to stop one man who wanted to convert Rivers State to his personal estate. Between him and myself, who has turned Rivers State to his personal estate? His wife is a Chairman of Governing Council, his daughter is a commissioner, his other daughter is a judge and he is the general overseer. Who has now turned Rivers State to his private estate? I am sure if care is not taken, if there is a chance, he can even arrange a marriage for the governor.”

“In 2007 after he left office, he couldn’t come near power in the State because Amaechi was the governor then. He was gone! Like somebody said that God will use someone to lift up someone. When I came in as governor in 2015, I won’t use the word resurrected, but I brought him back to life,” Wike said.

The Minister also mentioned that Odili had previously praised him as being better than past governors in the state, asserting that the former Governor had reduced himself to a laughingstock.

“All of you here remember when I was governor, this same Odili praised me to high heaven. In fact, he said then that all past governors in Rivers State combined did not do better than me. Now, because you have organized a Christmas Carol for the governor, I didn’t say you should not do your Christmas Carol. But why reduce yourself to such a laughing stock? People will still see it on television how he was telling the whole world then how God used me to bring him back to life politically.”

“The governor that all of us made has not spent one year in office and the same Odili was already saying that the governor has beaten the records of all the past governors of Rivers State. When I was there, he said I had surpassed the records of all the past governors, including himself. What can he even show that he did in his eight years as governor? But a governor has not spent one year, you are saying he has done more than all the past governors.”

The Minister further emphasized that the former Governor had no significant accomplishments during his eight years in office. He added that Odili failed in his Presidential bid and opposed Fubara’s emergence as Governor of Rivers State.

“You spent eight years as governor and someone who hasn’t spent one year has surpassed your records, what manner of elder talks like that? Is that what an elder statesman should be known for?”

“When I was plotting who will be governor after me, was he (Odili) there? Then, he was complaining about this governor, saying that he couldn’t stand before the public to talk. But today, he is organizing Christmas Carol for the same governor he was against then.”

“He has forgotten all that he said in the past. I named this after you, I named that after your wife. What have I not done? This is a man who wanted to run for President then, he didn’t have the balls, he chickened out. Simply because Obasanjo said no, he will not contest, he ran away. Because of him, I never invited Obasanjo to Rivers State to inaugurate projects. I felt it would humiliate him,” Wike said.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will auction 15,325 litres of seized premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, to ease transportation during the festive period.

Hussein Ejibunu, national coordinator of the service’s Operation Whirlwind, made the announcement on Saturday at a press briefing held at the Customs Training College, Ikeja, Lagos State.

Ejibunu said the product, valued at N27.5 million, was seized during operations in Lagos and Ogun states.

He said Adewale Adeniyi, the Comptroller-General of Customs, has directed that the products be auctioned at the rate of N10,000 per 25 litres.

The coordinator further said a court condemnation order and all legal processes have been finalised by the office of the legal adviser to facilitate the auctioning.

“This operation has been on since 27 May 2024 and has yielded positive results, as the CGC has urged the operatives to continue sustaining the tempo until the activities of these economic saboteurs are stamped out of this country,” Ejibunu said.

“On this note, the CGC has directed Auctions of the seized product to members of the public at the rate of N10,000 per 25 litres. This will ease the transportation hardship during this festive period.”

The Lagos State government has filed a notice of appeal at the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the recent acquittal of Femi Olaleye, a medical doctor who was previously convicted of rape.

Olaleye, the managing director of the Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, was sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2023 by the Lagos Special Offences and Domestic Violence Court for defiling a child and sexually assaulting the victim.

However, in November, a three-member panel at the Lagos Court of Appeal overturned the conviction, discharging and acquitting the doctor.

The appellate court ruled that the original judgment was flawed, describing the testimonies of Oluremi Olaleye, the defendant’s wife, and the alleged survivor as “tainted” and “unreliable.”

It further suggested that Oluremi was “motivated by greed and the desire to take over the appellant’s assets upon his incarceration.”

“Case Background”

Olaleye was initially arraigned in November 2022 on charges of defilement of a child and sexual assault by penetration.

He was accused of sexually abusing his wife’s niece over a period of 20 months.

In October 2023, Rahman Oshodi, a judge at the Special Offences Court, convicted Olaleye and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Following his conviction, Olaleye filed 35 grounds of appeal, which led to the appellate court’s decision to quash the conviction and acquit him.

In response to the ruling, civil rights groups petitioned Lawal Pedro, the Lagos State Attorney General, to appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.

“The Notice Of Appeal”

The notice, filed by Babajide Martins, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP); Adebayo Haroun, a director in the Ministry of Justice; and Babajide Boye, a deputy director; along with three other counsels, challenged the entire decision of the Court of Appeal.

The notice includes three main grounds of appeal.

Ground One: Corroboration Of Testimony.

The Lagos government argued that the Court of Appeal erred in law when it disregarded Section 209(2) of the Evidence Act, 2011, and the Apex Court’s decision in Dagaya v. State.

The appeal contended that the appellate court wrongly required corroboration for the sworn evidence of the victim, despite her being over 14 years old.

The Lagos government asserted that the appellate court’s decision to demand corroboration was in direct contradiction to the relevant legal provisions, which do not require corroboration for sworn evidence from a victim above the age of 14.

Ground Two: Confessional Statements.

The second ground of appeal contested the Court of Appeal’s decision that the confessional statements of the defendant—Exhibits H, HI, and H2—were wrongly admitted by the trial court.

The Lagos government argued that the trial court correctly admitted these confessional statements, as the defendant did not raise objections to their admissibility at the time they were tendered, as stipulated under Sections 28 and 29 of the Evidence Act, 2011.

The appeal asserted that a trial within a trial is not necessary when the objection to the admissibility of a confessional statement has been withdrawn, as was the case.

Furthermore, the Lagos government claimed that the defendant was cross-examined on his earlier statements, which is permitted under Section 232 of the Evidence Act, 2011.

Ground Three: Absence Of Key Witnesses.

The third ground of appeal challenged the Court of Appeal’s ruling that the prosecution’s case was weakened by the failure to call two key witnesses—DPO Patricia Amadi and Aunty Tessy.

The Lagos government maintained that the law does not require the prosecution to call all witnesses listed in the case.

The government said the absence of these witnesses did not harm the prosecution’s case, as other testimonies, particularly from the victim and other witnesses, established the necessary elements of the offence.

Additionally, the state noted that the absence of DPO Amadi, who was not the investigating police officer in the case, did not invalidate the prosecution’s case, as evidence from the actual investigating officer, PW6, was sufficient.

The Lagos State government is therefore seeking an order from the Supreme Court to allow the Appeal Court to set aside its judgment delivered on November 29, 2024, and affirm the conviction and sentence of Olaleye as delivered by the trial court.