Don’t take products not approved by NAFDAC, Lagos warns
Killer drink can get to Osun from Kano, says Oyetola’s aide

The Kano State Government on Thursday said 10 people had died and 400 others hospitalised after drinking a poisonous fruit juice.
The state government had month said the poisonous fruit juice claimed three lives and led to the hospitalisation of 183 others.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Aminu Tsanyawa, in a video recording made available to journalists in Kano on Thursday, stated that out of 400 people hospitalised, 50 persons were undergoing treatment for kidney-related ailments.
As the Kano State Government gave an update on the killer drink, Lagos, Katsina, Cross River, Sokoto and Osun state governments urged residents to be vigilant before consuming any fruit drink.

Although they urged residents not to panic, they advised them to check the expiry dates of drinks.
The Kano State Commissioner for Health had at a press conference in Kano on March 16 said the outbreak spread to 13 local government areas of the state.
The state ministry of health said the affected patients showed symptoms such as bloody urine, fever, lethargy, and sometimes yellowness of the eyes (jaundice).

On Thursday, Tsanyawa urged residents to be vigilant when consuming any fruit juice during the ongoing Ramadan to avoid catastrophic consequences.
The commissioner stated, “As you are aware, the ministry of health had in the recent past announced the outbreak of a strange disease traceable to the consumption of a substandard drink.

“The consumption of this fake and substandard product has telling effects on the kidney, and other vital organs of the body.
“Due to excessive heat that coincides with Ramadan, there is a possibility for high patronage of juices; I want to use this opportunity to caution residents to be on the watch-out.”
Kano has over the past couple of weeks been battling with an outbreak of a strange disease that has further stretched the health challenges of the state.

Thursday’s update by the health commissioner came after a major breakthrough by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control’s arrest of the suspects behind selling the Kano killer drink.

The Public Relations Officer of the ministry, Hajiya Hadiza Namadi, in an interview with The PUNCH on Thursday, said the video on the update of the incident was meant to further warn residents against taking the killer drink, traders were still selling in the state.

NAFDAC) had last week explained that it found out that the chemical added to the drink that led to the death of three persons contained ‘Hyroxylamine,’ used for terrorism.

The regulatory agency disclosed that all the merchants of the deadly chemicals and additives had been apprehended while further investigations were ongoing.

Ramadan: Katsina cautions on fruit juice

The Katsina State Commissioner for Health, Yakubu Danja, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday, advised the people of the state to be cautious about what they consumed during the ongoing Ramadan.

He said, “Honestly speaking, I am not aware of the killer drink, but I will enjoin people to be cautious of what they consume especially during this fasting period.

“ Of course, Islam is specific about the food or drinks to be consumed when breaking the fast. I will still suggest that people should take precautions in the food or drinks they take.”


Don’t take products not approved by NAFDAC, Lagos warns

The Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, on his part advised residents to check the expiry dates of the products they consumed.
Omotoso, in an interview with one of our correspondents, also urged residents of the state not to consume products that were not certified by NAFDAC.

Reacting to story of the sales of expired citric acid powdered drinks in Kano State, the commissioner said the state consumer protection agency would not allow the ‘killer drink’ to be sold in the state.

He said, “We have consumer protection agency saddled with the responsibility of curbing fake products and prosecuting people selling such.
“People must watch out for expiry dates on the products they consume and they have to ensure that such products are NAFDAC approved.”

Omotoso also assured residents of the state that there was no need to panic about the ‘killer drink.’
Killer drink can get to Osun from Kano, Oyetola’s aide warns residents

In an interview with The PUNCH, the Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Public Health, Dr Siji Olamiju, warned residents against consuming any drink they were not family with.
Olamiju said with a large population of northerners resident in the state, there was high possibility that the poisonous drink might be brought to the state.

He said that the state officials in conjunction with NAFDAC staff in the state would inspect sale outlets to ensure that the said drink was not allowed in the state.

He said, “NAFDAC has spoken about the incident and it has made us to understand that the ‘unidentified’ product was illegally smuggled in to the country and by analysis and investigation, it is a substandard product.

“I want to advise all Nigerians, especially the residents of Osun, that they should be wary of new products. During this fasting period, people will be lured in to taking different types of juice to break their fast. They should take only those products they are familiar with.

“Another thing is that we have a very high population of northerners here, so there is possibility of smuggling such drink into the state.
“So, we are already working together with NAFDAC to give us the identity of that drink. So that we can work with the NAFDAC here to make sure that we check all the juice stores. With that, we won’t allow it at all in the state.

“We have to take responsibility for our health and we should be wary of what we drink in this period. I want to urge everybody to take it serious. We will make sure the drink doesn’t get to Osun and if it already here, we will knock it off with the assistance of NAFDAC in Osun.”

C’River urges NAFDAC to identify killer drink, calls for vigilance

On its part, the Cross River State Government called for vigilance.
In a chat with one of our correspondents on Thursday, the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Asu Okang, said, “the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the relevant agencies like the Consumer Protection Agency of the state and others should be able to come together and mount surveillance to ensure that such should not enter our state through the boundaries.

“But we must first of all identify the real drink which is now termed killer drink before we can know whether it is already in the state or on its way to the state.

“Residents of the state should be vigilant and report any incident to the Ministry of Health.”
The Sokoto State Commissioner of Health, Dr Ali Inname, stated that, there was scarcity of information on the alleged killer drink.

Inname stated, “There is scarcity of information on the name of the killer drink, the source of the killer drink. If you know, you can avail us with such information.
“Notwithstanding, we have never for once lower our guard. We have sensitised our people, particularly the traders to quickly intimate us, immediately they notice any strange drink in the market.

“The people too, have been sensitised to be wary of what they eat and consume, especially with Ramadan, on going.”

Two top officials of the Muhammadu Buhari regime on Wednesday indicated that the country urgently needed more funds to run government and provide basic amenities for Nigerians.
Although the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, in an interview with the State House correspondents faulted a claim by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, that the Federal Government printed between N50bn and N60bn in March, she said there was a need to improve revenue to run government.

On his part, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, at the 2021 retreat for members of the technical sub-committee on cash management, stated that there was increasing pressure on government funds.

The minister and the accountant-general of the federation said these as investigations by The PUNCH revealed that most state governments were fast turning into salary-paying centres as a larger percentage of their revenues was spent on personnel costs compared to capital projects.
For example, while the Ekiti State Government said it spent 93.6 per cent of its federal allocation on personnel costs, its Ondo counterpart admitted that it was challenging paying high personnel costs.
Recall that two state governors a few days ago painted gloomy pictures of finances of state and federal governments.

On Monday, Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna State, through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Mr Muyiwa Adekeye, while justifying the decision of the state government to lay off workers said, “In the last six months, personnel costs have accounted for between 84.97 per cent and 96.63 per cent of FAAC ( Federation Account Allocations Committee) transfers received by the Kaduna State Government. In March 2021, Kaduna State had only N321m left after settling personnel costs.”

On Thursday last week, Obaseki was quoted as raising the alarm over Nigeria’s financial position which he said made the Central Bank of Nigeria to print about N60bn to augment allocation shared by states in March.
He said, “When we got FAAC for March, the Federal Government printed additional N50-N60bn to top-up for us to share. This April, we will go to Abuja and share. By the end of this year, our total borrowings are going to be within N15-N16tn.”
The finance minister in the interview with State House correspondents on Wednesday said there was no truth in the claim made by Obaseki.

She, however, said there was an urgent need for the country to improve its revenue to service debts and ensure day-day running of government.
Shedding more light on the country’s finances, the finance minister stated, “Nigeria’s debt is still within sustainable limit. What we need to do as I have said several times is to improve our revenue to enhance our capacity to service, not only our debt, but to service the needs of running government on a day-to-day basis.”
Describing the governor’s claim as very sad, the minister explained that the money shared monthly at FAAC was revenue generated.

Ahmed, who said Obaseki’s claim was not factual, described revenue distribution as public information that was available to all.
The minister also faulted the governor on the alarm raised on the country’s borrowings. She insisted that the nation’s debt profile was still within sustainable limit.

Ahmed said, “The issue that was raised by the Edo State Governor, for me, is very sad because it is not a fact. What we distribute at FAAC is a revenue that is generated and in fact, distribution revenue is public information.
“We publish revenue generated by the FIRS (Federal Inland Revenue Service), the Customs and the NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) and we distribute at FAAC. So, it is not true to say we printed money to distribute at FAAC. It is not true.”
Efforts to reach the governor on Wednesday proved abortive as none of his former aides picked their calls, while one, who promised to call back, did not do so as of the time of sending of this report.
A visit by The PUNCH to the government house on Wednesday evening also did not yield a result as the governor was said to be out of the office after attending to the day’s job, apparently to attend the closing ceremony of the National Sports Festival, which ended in Benin on Wednesday.

There is increasing pressure on govt funds – AGF

Also on Wednesday, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Idris, advocated efficient management of government funds.
He stated that at present, there was increasing pressure on government funds, a situation that had made it imperative for managers of government funds to evolve strategies that would guarantee efficient cash management.
Idris disclosed this at the 2021 retreat for members of the technical sub-committee on cash management. The technical sub-committee on cash management, inaugurated in April 2016, is the professional arm of the Federal Cash Management Committee.

According to a statement issued in Abuja by the Director, Information, Press and Public Relations, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Henshaw Ogubike, Idris stated, “Managing funds should not just be about expending the available funds. We must constantly keep ourselves abreast with strategies for knowing how to ensure inflows, when to expend and when not to.
“We must be able to forecast into the unforeseeable future, the cash needs of the government and possible challenges.”


Ekiti spends 93.6% of federation allocation on personnel, receives N3.1bn on the average – Commissioner


In Ekiti State, the Information Commissioner, Akin Omole, said the state spent over 93.6 per cent of the monthly allocation from the federation account on personnel.

Omole, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said, “The state has cut non-core expenditure, minimised the appointment of political appointees and introduced strict procurement standards to ensure value for money on all expenses.
“Ekiti spends 93.6 per cent of its average FAAC receipts on personnel. Ekiti State has received N18.5bn, an average of N3.1bn over the last six months”.

On whether the state was considering sacking workers, he said, “No, we are not exploring this option. Ekiti State will continue to prioritise the welfare of its workers, but the state will also rely on its workforce to increase productivity, and drive internally generated revenue growth to ensure the state can better withstand any shocks from the federally distributed revenues.”
He said that the Dr Kayode Fayemi administration had, since assumption of office, grown the IGR “by 55 per cent from N450m to N700m per month”.
On the wage bill, he said, “Political appointees account for 9 per cent of monthly payroll costs (N158m) while civil servants account for 91 per cent (N1.54bn), using March 2021 payroll.

“Since we assumed office, political appointees have not accounted for more than 9 per cent of the payroll and this figure even dropped during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when political appointees forfeited half of their salary as a sacrifice to the state during a very difficult period.
“We get the cooperation of international bodies and donor agencies that exist for development. That is obviously the difference between a government that knows its onions and others.”

“We are not actually in the best of times financially, but we are a government and not an organisation or corporate body that exists for purely economic reasons. We are mindful of the socio economic lives of our people and as such our decisions and actions should reflect this. We shall together weather the storm and come out better.”


Personnel cost is a challenge – Ondo


On its part, the Ondo State Government said the personnel cost in the recurrent expenditure of the budget was a challenge to any government.
A sum of N42.228bn, which is 53.4 per cent of total recurrent expenditure of N79.084bn was earmarked for personnel cost for the 2021 budget.

The state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr Donald Ojogo, however said in spite of the challenge, the government was still coping.
He said, “The governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has said it repeatedly that the bane of good governance is the bogus percentage spent on recurrent expenditures. Every governor’s desire, especially for ours in the state is to have more than 50 per cent voted for capital expenditure. But the implications are such that you have to wane down personnel to achieve such, and this is impossible because that means throwing more people into the labour market that is already overwhelmingly bloated.
“It is a huge challenge for all governments, it is not is peculiar to Ondo State, neither is any tier of government insulated.”



We are facing paucity of funds – Osun

The Osun State Commissioner for Political Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Taiwo Akeju, when contacted, admitted that the state was struggling with paucity of funds.
Akeju, however, said Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, had been managing the available resources to meet all obligations.
Asked how much the states was spending on personnel cost monthly, Akeju said the figure was not available to him, but explained that despite paucity of funds, the state had not borrowed from banks.

“We have a seasoned administrator in Governor Oyetola. He is managing the state with the available resources. Till now, we have not borrowed from any bank. There is paucity of fund, but the little we have the governor is managing it well,” Akeju concluded.
In the state 2021 budget, recurrent expenditure under which personnel cost was captured was N50,620,238, while capital expenditure was N59,234,768,500,00.
We can’t continue to spend 90% of our revenue on civil servants, pensioners who are 1.7% of our population – Gombe

In Gombe State, the Commissioner for Finance, Muhammad Magaji, said the state spent between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of its IGR and federal allocation on the payment of salaries and pensions.
Magaji, who disclosed this on Wednesday, while briefing newsmen after council meeting presided by Governor Muhammadu Yahaya, said the state introduced the Integrated Payroll Payment Gateway and Human Resource Management Information System to reduce leakages.
He said while between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of the state’s revenue was spent on civil servants and pensioners, they constituted only 1.7 per cent of the state’s population.
The commissioner stated, “We spent about 80-90 per cent of our earnings from the internally generated revenue and allocation on the payment of salaries and pensions.

“If we continue to pay that, it means only 10 to 15 per cent will be used to provide services for other people in Gombe State whereas the civil service and the pensioners are just about 1.7 per cent of the total population of people in Gombe State and others need services to be provided for them.”
Magaji said the Integrated Payroll Payment Gateway and Human Resource Information Management System would help us reduce payroll fraud and increase transparency in the payment of salaries and pension to deserving pensioners.
A check reveals that the Sokoto State personnel cost is N36,199,656,390.09 as against overhead cost of N30,032,230,567.20, out of the state budget of N176,685,535,663.47.

Part of the state government saving measure, was civil servants screening, where over N1.647,657,430.86 was saved as a result of its fishing out of multiple ghost workers and child workers.
It was undertaken by the state government under the auspices of the state Ministry of Finance.

The Bauchi State Government on its part earmarked N31,763,906,163 of its N213,914,559,427.00 budget for 2021 for personnel costs, according to a copy of the budget obtained by The PUNCH .
In Benue State, a check in the 2021 budget shows that the state expects a total revenue of N58,758,672,152 from the federal allocation and the Value Added Tax.
While Independent revenue stands at N19,761,611,452, loan which is part of receipt for 2021, stands at N30,261,757,702.
The personnel cost for the year stands at N49,338,215,266 and overhead cost N41,472,736,484 as against capital expenditure of N41,781,089,561.

• FG can’t force governors to enforce financial autonomy – Plateau gov

• NGF plans talks with judiciary workers to end JUSUN’s eight-day strike


The Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, on Tuesday said state governors were not opposed to financial autonomy for the judiciary and the legislature.
Lalong, who stated this in an interview with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum press corps in Abuja, however, faulted the Executive Order 10, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) signed into law last year.
The Plateau State governor, who is also the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, said the Federal Government could not force states to implement financial autonomy for the judiciary and legislature.
Lalong said that there were measures that must be taken before the autonomy could be implemented.
He added that state governors would meet with the leadership of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria on Wednesday (today) with a view to ending the strike embarked upon by the union.

Judiciary workers had on Tuesday last week begun the indefinite nationwide strike in protest against the denial of the judiciary its constitutionally-guaranteed financial autonomy which was also affirmed by a Federal High Court in January 2014.
Recall that the President last year signed into law, Executive Order No 10 of 2020 cited as “the implementation of financial autonomy for state legislature and judiciary Order, 2020.”

According to www.thelawcrest.com, a key provision of the Executive Order, “which seeks to enforce financial autonomy of the legislature and judiciary of the states, is the power given to the Accountant-General of the Federation to deduct from the allocations due to a state from the Federation Account, any sums appropriated for the legislature or judiciary of that state which the state fails to release to its legislature or judiciary as the case may be and to pay the funds directly to the state’s legislature or judiciary concerned.”
Responding to questions on the public outcry over the ongoing strike by JUSUN allegedly caused by the state governors and the non-implementation of Executive Order 10, Lalong said, “The court did not make any pronouncement on Order 10. The court said there is a law on financial autonomy, so Order 10 and financial autonomy are different. Order 10 is not a law. Financial autonomy is a law.

“People don’t understand what Order 10 is. Order 10 is talking about implementation. But for us governors, we are saying no. We are going to do implementation. We don’t need any Order 10 to force us to do implementation. So, we don’t need Order 10. We are only working on the law of implementation because Federal Government cannot tell us how to implement.
“We are doing the implementation. So for the judiciary, I’ve explained. I have said it’s perhaps people don’t understand. People have not even read what is Order 10 and the difference between Order 10 and the financial autonomy. We will have a meeting tomorrow. It is (the meeting) about financial autonomy.
“It’s not about Order 10. Order 10 of course is sub-judice now. It’s in court. We are not bothered about Order 10. We are talking about the implementation of the financial autonomy law.
“I was a speaker. We started it in 1999. Today I’m a governor, and I knew how the governors agreed, and brought in financial autonomy. It was a law, agreed by the governors.
“So who is the one that is even crying more than the bereaved? All these things affect us. And, of course, talking today, I’m a lawyer and I would want the judiciary to be autonomous.

“I’ve been a legislator. I was a speaker and chairman of speakers’ conference, so I will say that I will want autonomy for them.
He said autonomy would strengthen the judiciary and legislature in states. “People are thinking that is about money, it’s not about money. We want all the institutions strengthened; both the judiciary and the legislature,” he stated.
While responding to question on why the governors were foot-dragging, Lalong disagreed with the insinuation.

He said, “No governor is foot-dragging. Who’s foot-dragging? We were not consulted when the Order came. So when you are talking about implementation, you’re talking about a policy.
“There must be processes. For instance, I will tell you that you cannot do financial autonomy, until you have a service commission in place. You must establish a state allocation committee, and all these are steps toward autonomy.

“You don’t achieve autonomy in a day. We did it for the National Assembly, and there was no Order 10 for implementation. It took them stages. The Federal Government is aware. Some former members of the National Assembly are today governors. How can they say they don’t want autonomy?
He stated that seven governors, who were once members of the National Assembly, fought for financial autonomy for the National Assembly.

“So we are saying it’s a process., someone will just come and say Order 10. I’m doing it today, no!” he added.
When asked the extent of dialogue on the financial autonomy, he said, “We’ve had very useful dialogue with both the representatives of the judiciary and the state speakers.

He said the unions would meet with governors on Wednesday. “Sometimes people don’t know what they are fighting for,” he said.

The Ondo State Government, on Tuesday, petitioned the state Commissioner of Police, Salami Bolaji, over the refusal of the former deputy governor, Hon Agboola Alfred Ajayi , to return all the government vehicles in his possession.

In a letter written to the state Police Command and signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Duties & Strategy, Dr Doyin Odebowale, asked the Police to prevail on the former deputy governor to return all the four vehicles in his possession.

Odebowale in the letter said, despite that all entreaties to the former deputy governor to return the vehicles were rebuffed by Ajayi, depriving the incumbent deputy governor of using the vehicles.

The letter reads: “Our Office has the firm directive of the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi O. Akeredolu, to recover all government properties still in the possession of former political office holders in the state, especially those who served in the immediate past administration.

Our record confirms that Mr Agboola Ajayi, the immediate past Deputy Governor of Ondo State, is still holding on to four vehicles owned by the government.

All entreaties to him to return these vehicles, for the use of the incumbent occupier of the office, have been rebuffed.

“Please, Sir, find attached copies of the letters dated 16th February 2021 and 1st March 2021 respectively.

We lodge this complaint believing that you will use your good offices to look into this brazen act of conversion, and this is being charitable.

“Any person who keeps/detains the property of another with the intent to deprive the owner, permanently, of the usufruct right conferred therefrom, has committed an offence known in law as stealing.

“The vehicles in Mr Ajayi’s possession, unlawfully, are; Land Cruiser SUV, New Toyota Hilux, New Toyota Hilux and Toyota Hilux.”

Thirty-two refinery project licences issued to private investors in the country have become invalid in the past three years, according to the Department of Petroleum Resources.
The DPR said on Monday that the number of valid refinery project licences stood at 23 as of March 2021, down from 44 in April 2018.

An analysis of the agency’s new list of valid refinery project licences and that of April 2018 showed that 32 licences had become invalid while 11 new licences were granted between May 2018 and March 2021.

As of April 2018, there were 38 proposed modular refineries with capacity ranging from 5,000 barrels per stream day to 30,000bpsd, and six conventional plants with a total capacity of 1.35 million bpsd.
The DPR had said then that 20 of the licences were active, adding that 24 of the licence holders were still sourcing funds, although most of the licences had expired as of April 2018.

The agency’s updated list showed that the construction of four modular refineries, with a total capacity of 23,000bpsd, had been completed.

The refineries are Waltersmith Refining & Petrochemical Company Limited in Imo State, OPAC Refineries in Delta, Niger Delta Petroleum Resources (Train 3) in Rivers, and Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited in Edo.

The biggest refinery project, which is being built by Dangote Oil Refinery Company in Lagos, is more than 80.3 per cent completed, according to the DPR.

The refinery projects whose licences were declared invalid by the agency include BUA Refinery & Petrochemicals (Akwa Ibom); Dee Jones (Cross River); Energia Limited (Delta State); Southfield Petrochemical & Refinery Ltd (Edo); Starex Petroleum Refinery (Onne Oil & Gas Free Trade Zone); RG Shinjin Petrochemicals (Delta); Don Mac (Edo), and Platinum Hydrocarbon Resources (Delta).
Others are Mondonat Nigeria Ltd (Delta); Ikwe-Onna Refinery (Akwa Ibom); Shepha Petroleum & Petrochemicals Company (Delta); JIL-Amber (Port Harcourt Refinery); Gazingstock Petroleum Company (Delta); Petrolex Oil & Gas Limited (Ogun); Eghudu Refinery (Edo); Ibafon Refinery FZE (Calabar FTZ, Cross River); and Kainji Resources (Imo).
Among them are Eko Petrochem & Refining Company (Lagos); Hi Rev Oil (Akwa Ibom); Epic Refinery & Petrochemical Industries (Bayelsa); Masters Energy Oil & Gas (Rivers); Cross Country Oil & Gas (Imo); Grifon Energy (Ondo); Sifax Oil & Gas Company (Lagos); and Capital Oil & Gas Industries (Lagos);
Others are All Grace Energy (Rivers); Green Energy International (Rivers); Fresh Energy Limited (Bayelsa); Chyzob Oil & Gas (Abia); Aiteo Energy Resources Limited (Delta); Associated Worldwide Company (Akwa Ibom); and Amakpe International Refinery (Akwa Ibom).

Barely 28 years after, former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday lamented the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election, presumably won by the late philanthropist, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola. He blamed the cancellation on “bad belle”.

The election, adjudged to be most peaceful, credible and fair, was annulled by the military President, Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.

Obasanjo said the annulment robbed Egbaland and Ogun State the rare privilege of having three of its prominent sons occupying the number one leadership position in the country at different times.

The elder statesman, who was referring to former Head of Interim National Government(ING), Chief Ernest Shonekan, himself, who governed the country first as a military Head of State and a civilian president, apparently noted that Abiola would have become the third, if the 1993 presidential poll was not annulled.

He spoke yesterday in Abeokuta after his investiture as a trustee of the Abeokuta Club, a socio-cultural organisation of Egba people of Ogun State, where Tokunbo Odebunmi, an engineer, is the president.

Obasanjo was honoured alongside the late Abiola, who was awarded a posthumous vice-patron of the club.

The former president, who noted that Abiola was his schoolmate at the Baptist Boys High School (BBHS) Abeokuta, said the late politician richly deserved the award bestowed on him by the Abeokuta Club.

Obasanjo said: “When Abeokuta Club was in the process of being birthed, things in Abeokuta were not as rosy as they are today. And the sons of Abeokuta, who were in Lagos, put their heads together in late Chief Sobo Sowemimo’s residence to think of what they could do to improve the development of Abeokuta as a city. I pay tributes to all those founding members, those who have departed this world and those who are still here.

“I want to thank the club for this honour being bestowed on me and the honour being bestowed on my school mate, MKO Abiola, which he richly deserved.

“Kabiyesi, the Alake (of Egbaland) alluded to it. Normally, when you win a cup three times, you keep that cup. Isn’t it? If not for bad belle, Abeokuta would have produced President of Nigeria three times, in which case, we should have kept it permanently.

“But be that as it may, we have a great heritage. And we should be proud of our heritage. On this note, I will say on this occasion, I thank the President, the patron and grand patron, members of Board of Trustees, the executive. I want to say this, I will continue to contribute my quota to the development and growth of this club and by extension, the development and growth of Abeokuta, of Ogun State, of Nigeria, of African and indeed the of world in whichever way I could.”

Also, Alake and paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, while presenting the plague to Obasanjo, described Obasanjo and MKO Abiola as proud sons of Abeokuta.

He added that some “bad blood” didn’t allow Abiola to emerge President of Nigeria.