An APC chieftain in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha, has condemned the owner of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, for using his platform to propagate deliberate lies, propaganda, and attempts to defame under the disguise of “activism.”
Chief Okocha, in a statement titled “Sowore: The Unbridled Razzmatazz of a Notorious Crisis Merchant”, noted that, “this is exactly what Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, has perfected over the years.”
Excerpt of the statement is below:
In every democracy, criticism is welcome, but what Nigerians must reject are deliberate lies, propaganda, and attempts to defame under the disguise of “activism.” This is precisely what Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, has perfected over the years.
Sowore has built his entire career on lies. His Sahara Reporters platform is notorious for publishing fabricated stories and half-truths, often used as tools for blackmail and extortion.
Recently, Sowore launched another wave of falsehoods against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and the Honourable Minister of the FCT, Chief Barr. Nyesom Wike CON. These baseless allegations are nothing more than the bitter rantings of a man rejected by Nigerians at the polls and now struggling with political irrelevance.
What an insult for a sane citizen of a country to outburst that the President or whatever nomenclature used to refer to the highest office holder, is a “Criminal”
Nigerians must stand up against this rascal and nitwit desiring to rub the integrity of the country in the mud, rather than give heed to or yield to the antics of a serial merchant of discord and purveyor of “non-sequitur” half-truths.
Omoyele Sowore is best understood as a blackmailer whose stock-in-trade includes blatant lies, forgery, and baseless incitements.
To cut a long story short, it becomes pertinent to continue exposing the dark side of Sowore and call for his immediate arrest and prosecution.
- Sowore As A Merchant Of Falsehood And Blackmail Journalism:
Omoyele Sowore is not a journalist; he only relishes peddling fabricated stories.
His “Sahara Reporters” platform has, for years, been accused of being a beehive of “blackmail journalism”, publishing malicious reports to malign reputations and allegedly demanding settlements to retract them.
Recently, the Nigerian Police charged him with forgery and false publication for circulating a fake police signal intended to undermine national security. This is not activism. It is outright criminality.
- Sowore’s Criminal Charges Under The Cyber Crime Act:
Sowore is currently standing trial for cybercrime and defamation. The DSS filed multiple charges against him for transmitting false, inciting and malicious messages against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on social media.
His deliberate lies are aimed at inciting public unrest, sowing distrust and discord in institutions with the poisonous intention to destabilise Nigeria. A man standing trial for such grave offences ought to rein in himself and consider himself as lacking in moral imperative to insult credible leaders who are working extremely hard to build the nation.
- Sowore’s #Revolutionnow: A Thinly Veiled Coup Attempt:
Nigerians remember clearly the #RevolutionNow protests led by Sowore in 2019. He openly called for “days of rage” to topple a democratically elected government. That reckless campaign was nothing but an attempted insurrection, unwittingly packaged as activism.
No genuine democrat calls for the violent overthrow of a legitimate government. Sowore’s actions then and his continued incitement now prove that he is more of an anarchist and a psychopath than a patriot.
- Sowore’s Dubious Finances and Shady Sponsorship:
Questions continue to trail the source of Sowore’s wealth and the funding behind his political campaigns. Allegations of money laundering and foreign sponsorship remain unanswered. Nigerians have every reason to believe that Sowore acts as a mercenary, attacking respected leaders while cashing out from his paymasters.
His refusal to provide transparency on his finances only deepens suspicion that his so-called activism is driven by profit, not principle.
- Sowore’s Hypocrisy and Political Failure:
Despite his noisy, nauseous and notorious presence on social media, Sowore has consistently budded the very low rung of the ladder at the ballot box.
To put it differently, his repeated Presidential bids have ended in humiliation, with laughable vote counts that reveal Nigerians do not trust him with leadership.
Alas, what leadership does he seek? Is it leadership over sane, sound and knowledgeable people or that of layabouts? What an infantile ambition and a wild goose chase!
The fact that his rejection by the people of Nigeria at the polls has turned him into a bitter critic of every government, regardless of its performance, as seen in the cases of President Tinubu and Minister Wike, is unthinkable.
Sowore represents the opposite of Democracy – autocracy, serving as both a Party Chairman and Presidential candidate at the same time.
- He Who Asserts Carries The Burden Or Onus Of Proof:
This principle is trite. It is sheer absurdity for Sowore to level unsubstantiated allegations of criminal acquisitions against Nigerians without a scintilla of empirical or rational evidence.
This style aimed at the jugulars of Mr President and Minister Wike is dead on arrival.
Nigerians are interested in concrete evidence and facts, not wild conjectures with clear intentions to blackmail.
Provide cogent and verifiable facts that lead to specific, apodictic conclusions, and we escalate it to the highest levels.
Ad~hominem or ad~misericodia are sheer fallacies, no matter how beautifully they are couched.
President Tinubu is implementing his 10-point agenda under the theme “Renewed Hope Agenda”. The economy is booming! Never in the history of Nigeria had over a trillion naira been shared by the three tiers of Government.
The Naira now wields influence and has stabilised against the hitherto doldrums before the Dollar and other hard currencies.
Road infrastructure is verifiable. The trillion-naira Lagos-Calabar expressway, which pundits like Sowore dismissed as a near impossibility, is on the fast track. The blind can see it.
The Educational sector is better than it was before 2023. Indigent students now smile at schools thanks to the student loan largesse of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Over a million Nigerians receive monthly stipends as one of the empowerment programmes of Mr President.
The Agricultural sector is booming. Farms and farmers are provided with farm implements and loans to aid in more than subsistence farming.
Security is looking up under President Tinubu. No doubt, there are pockets of security challenges, but they are responded to as a priority.
It should be noted that security challenges are not akin to our climate and didn’t stem from President Tinubu’s administration. It is a global concern.
Today, just today, President Trump of America signed an Executive order declaring a specific dissident group operating in America, as a “Domestic Terrorist group”
Minister Wike of the Federal Capital Territory, an Agent of the President, is transforming the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja with unmatched energy. Abuja can now favourably compete with the capital cities of first- and second-world countries.
A little note and passing glance on HE, N. E. Wike’s trajectory
(1) Like him, hate him or maintain neutrality, you cannot but agree with the fact that NYESOM EZENWO WIKE (NEW) is a profound development agent.
(2) He is a goal getter
(3)His curiosity for knowledge and learning drove him to study Law at the University of Science and Technology (As it then was), after graduating from the University of Port-Harcourt, where he studied Political Science. He hails from a comfortable middle-class family background, yet chose to be largely independent.
(4) He saw money at a very young age as a result of personal endeavours and outshone his peers.
(5) He was first among equals to drive a Mercedes-Benz and maintained a rich fleet of cars.
(6) Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, at a very young age, took an interest in politics and functioned as a Party Agent to candidates dating back to the era of NPN and NPP.
(7)He joined the PDP at the inception of the party in 1998.
(8)He contested the Local Government election as an underdog but trounced giants to become the Chairman of Obio/Akpor LGA
(9) He was the first to break the jinx of one tenure Chairmanship of the Obio/Akpor LGA, mainly because of performance, hard work and divine providence.
(10)He won back-to-back, best-performing Local Government Chairman Award as instituted by the Rivers State Government and won official and personal laurels therefrom.
(11) Ezenwo Nyesom Wike is “Consistently Consistent,” not “Consistently Inconsistent”.
(12)He had remained with the PDP from inception/formation till date. He never bordered on the rough contours typical of internal politics, but elected to keep faith with the party under thick and thin.
(13) He was appointed Chief of Staff, Government House under HE, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, as then Governor of Rivers State in 2007.
This appointment was one supported by all CRA supporters because of the overt and covert roles he played to enthrone that Government after God. He turned down mouth-watering overtures. He resisted threats, humiliations, and intimidations, one of which was the dissolution of councils, six months before the expiration of his tenure.
(14) He became the Director General of the campaign to usher in a second tenure and effectively delivered his candidate by a landslide.
(15)He was one of the nominees from Rivers State for Ministerial appointment.
(16) He was appointed and assigned to the Minister of State for Education and later became the Supervising Minister of Education, upon the resignation of the then-substantive Minister.
(17) His achievements both as Minister of State for Education and the Supervising Minister of Education still stand as monuments.
(18) He contested for the Governorship of Rivers State under the complex nose of a Governor of the then APC, and was desirous to enthrone a successor.
(19) He won the election under the platform of the PDP with a landslide vote and became the Governor of Rivers State
(20) He returned for a second tenure as Governor amidst heavy undulations and pressures from an APC-controlled Federal government.
(21) His achievements as Governor of Rivers earned him many accolades and awards, including “Mr Project” and “Mr Quality Project” by no less than the person of the Vice President, who was on the ground to commission a horde of projects executed by Wike’s Government in Rivers State.
(22)HE, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike won the prestigious Award of Best Governor on infrastructure development.
(23) Not done yet, Wike threw his hat into the ring and battled to become the Presidential candidate of the PDP, but finished as a runner-up.
(24) NEW is notable for his stance. He doesn’t vacillate between opinions.
(25) He is predictable on issues of politics
(26) He stands on principles.
(27) He is sold out to friendship and doesn’t betray.
(28)He is vociferous, bold and fearless.
(29) He didn’t hide his preference and support for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC, when his party, PDP, undermined the principles of justice, equity and fair play.
(30) He engineered the breaking of a long-standing jinx of PDP dominance in Presidential elections in Rivers State.
(31) He does not cry war and make peace.
(32) He is thorough and profound both at work and at home.
(33) Etc.
Just a tit bit of who His Excellency, Chief Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike CON, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, is, so that he is no longer viewed as a neophyte or greenhorn or a beneficiary of undeserved goodwill or a pauper.
Let’s return to the main points.
The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ought to be applauded for its short time in office.
Those who, for political reasons, propagate “Hunger Revolution” are too late for breakfast. Nigerians are aware of their unsavoury antecedents and will never fall for their childish and cheap chicanery.
Conclusion:
Much as Omoyele Sowore feels sure to adopt the uncouth and uncanny style of unrepentant blackmailer, purveyor of blatant falsehood and dangerous provocateur, as desperate attempts to gain relevance in Nigeria’s political space, he should be mindful of the consequences.
The Federal Government must act decisively and pointedly.
Nigerians should breathe heavily on the shoulders of those whose activities are clearly antithetical to the progress made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s two and a half years in the saddle in government, which, in my well-considered and dispassionate view, are intended for the eldorado.
Activism is neither Rascalism nor Infantilism.
As a student union activist, Omoyele Sowore will recall the principle of the 3Cs (consultation, consolidation, before confrontation) as a guide to any meaningful action or agitation.
Spreading fake news with a clear intention to defame others’ character or integrity is unacceptable and reprehensible.
Attempting to incite Nigerians against the government with such crude style is a treasonous fallacy.
Any action which is capable of undermining public trust and potent enough to threaten Nigeria’s democracy, stemming from malice, is unacceptable.
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