The Aare OnaKakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams, has said all what he said about the Chief of Staff to Lagos Governor, Mr Tayo Ayinde were mere hearsay and not verified.
Adams who made this known in a recent interview with The Sun, said that it was part of a private discussion with one of his friend’s brothers in the United States.
Aare OnaKakanfo said ” The voice note issue was shocking. It was a conversation with one of my friend’s brothers in the United States. He was asking me how to resolve the issue with Sunday Igboho and how I would reconcile with him. I also mentioned a former Chief Security Officer (CSO), whom I call Sadam, Rasak Arogundade. We talked for about an hour and a half, and during the conversation I mentioned the CSO.
” I said that someone told me, though it wasn’t confirmed information, that Tayo Ayinde was the one financing Sunday Igboho’s activities through Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I was clear that it was unverified, but I relayed it during our private conversation. I mentioned this in confidence, emphasizing that it might not be true.
However, the voice note was edited, cutting out the part where I clarified that the information wasn’t confirmed, leading to misunderstandings. This selective editing created confusion and spread misinformation. A conversation that lasted one and a half hours was cut down to 17 minutes, distorting our two-hour discussion. At the end of the day, they took a portion of my statement, brought the audio out and published it.
“I saw it on their page, and then they started sending me messages, claiming that I defamed them. I believe the case is in court because I saw it on the front page of the newspaper today (Wednesday, April 24), though I haven’t been served yet. I suppose we will meet in court. The most unfortunate aspect is that Tayo Ayinde, who is not a controversial person and has never publicly attacked me, has become entangled in this mess”.
He added ” Tayo Ayinde is a quiet person who doesn’t talk much. Yet the other side has bullied me more than anyone else in the world, either by proxy or directly. They’ve called me every name in the book. Some of their bloggers recently claimed that I have a spirit that drinks blood in my house. There has been a lot of nonsense said about me, but I believe that, as a public figure, I can’t challenge everything said about me in court.
” Still, if someone wants to take me to court, I am ready; the court can interpret anything the two lawyers say. The most unfortunate aspect is the issue with Tayo Ayinde, which I mentioned as something someone told me, but was not confirmed. It became public. I was just having a casual conversation with my friend on a WhatsApp call and I don’t know how the voice note got out.
“If we get to court, I’ll ask for an explanation of how a private conversation could be circulated throughout the entire world. Assuming I came out publicly and said all these things, then I know I’d need to defend that in court. Some people don’t understand what constitutes libel, but we’ll address that in court. That’s the issue”.
Speaking on the proposed State Police, Adams said state police is an idea that has come to stay, and non-negotiable.
He added ” The system of government we are running now was borrowed from the United States, where they have state police, sheriffs and county police. It’s unreasonable for people to create fear and use excuses over the past 20 years, arguing that governors will misuse state police. This fear-mongering continues to breed insecurity, which is destroying Nigeria, hurting our economy and damaging our national image. Yet, some continue to claim that governors will misuse state police, when the real focus should be on protecting lives and property.
“Is it really likely that a state police officer, who is a citizen of the state, would follow an order from a governor to harm their own people? Would Nigeria be the first multi-ethnic country with state police? No. Considering Nigeria’s large population, it does not make sense to have just one centralised police force. Countries with populations under four million might manage with one police force, but not a country like Nigeria. Even South Africa, with fewer than 100 million citizens, has both state and federal police. So, why are we pretending that a single police force is enough for Nigeria? Why are we deceiving ourselves and risking the stability of our country by refusing to implement state police?”, he queried.
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