KOGI PROGRESSIVE YOUTH FOR CHANGE PRESS RELEASE
RE: CRUEL AND MALICIOUS STATEMENT BY JOEL ODAUDU ALIAS MINISTER AGAINST THE GOVERNOR’S FAMILY
OJM THE ‘ONLINE JOURNALIST’ IS AN UNSUCCESSFUL LIAR.
“No man has good enough a memory to be a successful liar” – Abraham Lincoln
Kogi progressive youth for change is a non partisan group of youth in Kogi state whose mission is to ensure that our youth participate actively in bringing about positive change in our society.
We have watched the events of the past few days with utter disbelief and disgust. The youth of our state are appalled at the level people will go to achieve cheap popularity at the expense of any form of dignity that they should accord themselves.
Ordinarily, we would have chosen to ignore the antics of one ‘Odaudu Joel Minister’ a self styled ‘online journalist’ who thinks he can achieve fame by blackmailing family members of politicians but for the fact that his persistent falsehood peddling is capable of presenting the youth of Kogi as desperate elements who subscribe to the dirty politicking tactics of blackmail and character assassination employed by Joel and his sponsors.
Wikipedia defines Online journalism as the reporting of FACTS when produced and distributed via the internet. We are yet to understand how Joel Minister, a contract Glo sales staff fits into this profession with the fabricated stories he chooses to put on the internet about the families of politicians especially our hardworking Executive Governor.
Having gone through the various write ups of Joel, We cannot help but notice the inconsistencies:
1. On the 5th of November 2012 Odaudu Joel Minister wrote on the Kogi Political Platform page that the governor’s daughter called him to threaten him over a post he ‘copied and pasted’ about the details of a meeting between the governor and a house of assembly member. His words: “She THREATENED me to substantiate the post or PAY THE PRICE by TOMORROW MORNING! I have a RECORDED VERSION which I am going to publish by tomorrow morning”
2. On the 12th of November, he was quoted in the Nation as saying “ the governor’s daughter threatened him to either stop reporting stories on her father or risk arrest, detention and total annihilation”. He went on to add “ the governor’s sister asked him to sign an undertaking that I will delete the Kogi Political platform from the facebook because according to her it was being used to vilify Wada” . In the same paper, he says “ Habibat Wada brought thugs to my house, But when she saw that I was calling the police, she ran to the station and brought policemen to arrest me and my wife”
3. In a petition to the IG on the 14th of November( 9 clear days after he reported the threat on facebook), Mr Odaudu Joel accuses some members of the family of the Executive governor of Kogi State of a plot to eliminate him and his family over and Open letter he wrote to the Governor on the lingering political crisis in Kogi state posted on his facebook wall suggesting the way forward. Mr Odaudu states clearly for the world to see that “the daughter of the governor (not the governor’s sister again) called him on the 5th of November to either delete a facebook group which I pioneered, known as the ‘Kogi Political Platform’ or have me thoroughly dealt with, permanently silenced and have my generation wiped out from Kogi state”. He goes on to say “ Hajiya Habibat raided my house with about 15 armed thugs AND 7 policemen to arrest me and my wife”.
Mr JOEL MINISTER, PLEASE MAKE UP YOUR MIND:
WHY WERE YOU THREATENED? WAS IT BECAUSE OF AN OPEN LETTER OR BECAUSE YOU PUBLISHED THE DETAILS OF A MEETING BETWEEN THE GOVERNOR AND A HOUSE MEMBER?
WHAT IS IT EXACTLY THAT THE GOVERNOR’S DAUGHTER SAID WHEN SHE CALLED TO ‘THREATEN YOU’ OR IS YOUR RECORDING TELLING YOU A DIFFERENT THING ALL THE TIME?
WHY DID IT TAKE YOU NINE FULL DAYS TO REPORT THE THREAT TO THE POLICE- EVEN AFTER YOU CLAIM SHE SENT A BUS LOAD OF THUGS TO YOUR OFFICE THE NEXT MORNING?
WHO ASKED YOU TO DELETE YOUR FACEBOOK ACCOUNT-THE GOVERNOR’S DAUGHTER OR SISTER?
DID HAJIYA HABIBA BRING THE POLICE AND THE THUGS AT THE SAME TIME OR DID SHE RUN TO GO AND CALL THE POLICE WHEN SHE SAW YOU WERE CALLING THE POLICE?
Just like the words of Abraham Lincoln above, Mr Minister’s memory cannot keep up with the lies- hence the numerous contradictions.
It is easy for Odaudu Joel Minister to present himself to the unsuspecting public as a ‘freedom fighter’ but to those of us who have been following the story from the beginning and all other discerning minds, we see a boy who has gotten carried away by the cheers of the small crowd of like minded individuals on his facebook page and is seeking cheap popularity by assassinating the character of prominent individuals in society.
To the unfortunate public who have had to put up with this shameless display of Joel, we tell you that Joel is an unfortunate victim led by greed into the hands of desperate politicians in our state who have resorted to launching campaigns of calumny against the Governor and his family as a consolation for their loss at the polls. Joel is just the piper who is playing the tune of his paymasters.
We want to use this medium to draw the attention of the Security services to the threat by Odaudu joel’s paymasters “ to make Kogi state UNGOVERNABLE if the police dare interrogate their piper ’Joel’ for organising violent attacks against members of the Governor’s family”.
We also commend the members of the family of our Executive Governor for using legal means to handle the various attacks on them by Odaudu Joel and his sponsors.
Finally, We express confidence in the capability of the Nigerian police to see this matter to a logical conclusion. We implore them not to be deterred by the threats of violence from opposition politicians in Kogi state
KOGI YOUTHS STAND UNITED IN RESISTING AND CONDEMNING ANY ATTEMPT BY OPPOSITION POLITICIANS TO TURN OUR STATE INTO THE BATTLEGROUND THAT OTHER STATES IN THE NORTH HAVE BEEN TURNED TO. CHANGE HAS COME TO STAY IN KOGI AND IT WILL REMAIN SO.
Mr Odaudu Joel Minister, No matter how hard you try to cover your tracks with lies and illegal actions, the truth will surely be revealed very soon for the whole world to see.
SIGNED.
COMRADE EMMANUEL ADUKWU, HASSAN THOMPSON, COMRADE ATABOR ARUWA
FOR KOGI PROGRESSIVE YOUTH FOR CHANGE.
