Skip to main content

Lagos Speaker, Obasa, Gives Thugs N50m To Burn Down SaharaReporters' Civic Media Lab, Targets TVC Journalist, HEDA For Criticizing Him

Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has sponsored some thugs to embark on a protest against SaharaReporters in front of the Civic Media Lab in the GRA area of Ikeja, Lagos.

The paid miscreants, most of whom are members of the notorious Awawa Boys – a group known to terrorize residents of Agege and other neighbouring suburbs in the city – are expected to be carrying out such hatchet jobs for corrupt politicians.

It won't be the first time Lagos politicians and the Nigerian government would sponsor fake protests against SaharaReporters – on June 16, 2017, Lekan Fatodu, a self-acclaimed journalist, led some miscreants including commercial motorcycle riders known as ‘Okada riders’ to protest in front of Civic Media Lab, preventing users and employees from going in or out for several hours. 

Buoyed by then Lagos Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, Fatodu also came along with a few reporters and bloggers, who later syndicated reports of his fake “protest”. It turned out that the police granted him a protest permit to enable him to carry out the dastardly act.  See Also Self-Acclaimed Journalist Lekan Fatodu Rents Crowd To Protest At SaharaReporters Media Lab VIDEO NEWS Self-Acclaimed Journalist, Hired Protesters Block SaharaReporters’ Lagos Civic Media Lab 0 Comments 2 Years Ago

This was after he had led some thugs to assault publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, in January 2017 following claims that the online news publication defamed him when it linked him to illicit financial deals by Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation in Nigeria.

Fatodu later pursued a libel lawsuit at a Lagos high court against SaharaReporters and its publisher, but a judge asked him to pay N100,000 to the Civic Media Lab for wrongfully joining the lab in his misguided lawsuit but he has refused to pay the fees till date. See Also Exclusive EXCLUSIVE: In Wasteful Spending Of Public Funds, Lagos Assembly Speaker, Obasa, Approves N47.5m For Quarterly Media Promotion Of House 0 Comments 2 Weeks Ago

SaharaReporters gathered that Obasa has mobilized the thugs with N50m so as to invade the Civic Media Lab office and burn down the place with anybody found there as a way of getting back at the online news publication for exposing his fraudulent activities in the Lagos parliament where he had been feeding fat on public funds.  Lagos Speaker Mudashiru Obasa

In a series of reports in recent weeks, SaharaReporters had exposed how Obasa used a number of companies registered under different names to execute contracts and siphon public funds.

One of the reports said to have greatly embarrassed the Speaker, exposed how he spent N17m monthly to maintain his personal residence and guest house.

Obasa, through a proxy company, made the state Assembly approve that amount for the maintenance of both property on monthly basis.  See Also Exclusive Lagos Speaker, Obasa, Gets N17m Monthly For Maintenance Of Personal Residence, Guest House 0 Comments 1 Week Ago

SaharaReporters had also previously reported how the Speaker, who has been head of the Assembly since 2015, used his office to approve the sum of N47.5m per quarter from the state treasury for social media influencers.

Angered by the development and especially after failing to get SaharaReporters to soft-pedal on its focus on his corrupt activities, Obasa and his supporters capitalised on a recent error in a story published by the online news medium to claim that all stories published about him were false.  See Also Corruption EXPOSED: Speaker Of Lagos Assembly, Obasa, Awards Contracts To Self Through Company Registered In Son's Name 0 Comments 1 Month Ago

On Friday, SaharaReporters erroneously reported that a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’aba, had died.

But after findings, it was revealed that Na’aba was alive and in London. 

SaharaReporters, like any other responsible media establishment, immediately retracted that piece of information and tendered an unreserved apology to the ex-House of Reps Speaker and all persons, who may have seen the story earlier. 

Rather than commend the online news publication for such bold and professional move, Obasa and his followers saw it as an opportunity to rubbish all the reports on his corrupt activities as exposed by SaharaReporters.

According to sources close to the seat of power in Lagos, invading and burning down the Civic Media Lab was one of the best ways Obasa believes he can get back at SaharaReporters for all the ‘damage’ done to his ‘brand’.

It was also gathered that the Lagos Assembly Speaker was targeting a journalist with Television Continental, Babajide Kolade-Otitoju, for criticizing him on Journalists Hangout, a popular program on the station where media practitioners share their views on topical issues.

Also, Obasa and his group are targeting the leadership of Human and Environmental Development Agenda, a civil rights organization promoting transparency and justice.

HEDA had been a thorn in the flesh of corrupt public office holders in Nigeria, exposing and dragging them in the open for their atrocious acts.

Corruption Journalism Politics Scandal MEDIA News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 


via IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P
Post a Comment
Read more

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis : 
Post a Comment
Read more

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

  A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja.  Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi
Post a Comment
Read more