Bayo Onanuga cannot be your spokesperson – HURIWA to Tinubu

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has described President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on strategy and information, Bayo Onanuga, as a historical loose Canon who speaks ‘from both sides of his mouth’.

HURIWA claimed that Onanuga is famous for always speaking without introspection, which according to the group makes him the least qualified person to speak on behalf of a Nigerian president.

The group said it believed Onanuga could only speak for Tinubu if the President turned himself into a bully who was against criticism and critical thinking.

The human rights group also accused Onanuga of grossly misinterpreting the cover story of one of The Guardian’s editions last week, when the newspaper categorically reported that a crisis of mass hunger, poverty, deprivation and the cost of living had combined to mobilize some people to act. Nigerians began calling for the usual military intervention.

He said Bayo Onanuga’s misinterpretation of this cover story showed that he did not think much philosophically before issuing media statements.

The human rights group condemned what it called a deliberate misinterpretation of a cover story that described the existential experiences of the Nigerian people and did not in any way support calls by several individuals for military intervention.

HURIWA also asked whether Onanuga was aware that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, had in August told youths calling for protests to end misrule that he, the Senate President, would watch the protesters while having dinner at his mansion. television.

The group said Onanuga “justifies his blatant disobedience of the Courts’ valid orders against the recent Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.”

He said: “The presidential spokesman missed the point by providing support to the fugitive former governor to continue defying the law even when the immunity of the Kogi state governor does not extend to government buildings where governors and the president, vice president or deputy are present. “They live to become safe havens for people wanted by law enforcement agencies, such as governors, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or the competent courts covered under Article 6 of the 1999 constitution.”

The statement said: “The police or military cannot be prevented from arresting wanted persons even if they are hiding under the AGBADA (indigenous clothing) of the governor or president, provided that the police or military officers who arrest the wanted person simply take the wanted person out.” Agbada (indigenous clothing) of the Nigerian governor or even the president.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a qualified, more sober, thoughtful and professional media spokesperson to stop the loose Canon that has led Bayo Onanuga to make Nigerians and the listening world think or believe that Nigeria is a dungeon for outlaws or wanted persons to enter We call for the appointment of those who are hiding in the homes of the governor or president and cannot be arrested because the immunity from prosecution provision in Article 308 of the constitution, which only covers the governor, deputy governor, president and vice president, but does not cover their homes, allows the defendants or people wanted by law enforcement to be sheltered.

As DAILY POST reported earlier, Onanuga said security agencies were unable to arrest the embattled Bello due to the “complex” nature of the case.

Recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in April 2024 declared Bello, who was Kogi governor from May 2015 to May 2023, wanted for alleged financial crimes amounting to N80.2 billion.

DAILY POST also reported that the EFCC made several attempts to arrest the former governor but his successor, Usman Ododo, came to his rescue and took him to his lodge.

The matter was taken to court, but the former governor did not appear before the trial judge despite many postponements.

HURIWA disagreed with Onanuga over Bello’s refusal to surrender himself to the EFCC and faulted his position on the ground that immunity from prosecution did not extend to the homes of those who enjoyed immunity.

“This statement by Onanuga is false, ridiculous and misleading,” HURIWA said.

“Immunity from prosecution as envisaged by the Nigerian constitution has not made government houses safe havens for suspects and defendants who cannot be arrested by security forces.”