National Issues
Ejigbadero’s Case: 43 Years After.
THE judge who handled the celebrated Ejigbadero case in the 1970s has finally broken his silence on the case.
Justice Isiaka Ishola Oluwa who clocked 100 years old spoke on the case in his recently released autobiography titled: ‘A Life in Motion Reminiscence of a Jurist at 100 years’.
Justice Oluwa said he believed the celebrated murder case influenced the enactment of the Land Use Decree (now known as Land Use Act) by the military government of General Olusegun Obasanjo.
Justice Oluwa’s account of the case as contained in the book is as follows:
“As a judge, many controversial cases were brought before me that made headlines in the newspapers. One of such cases was the criminal case of Ejigbadero. I was assigned the Ejigbadero case by the Honourable Chief Justice of Lagos State in 1975. The case attracted a lot of public interest because it involved a well-known socialite, one Jimoh Ishola who was the executive chairman of Jimsol Nigeria Ltd, a nail manufacturing company in Lagos. Ishola was better known by his alias, Ejigbadero. He had his factory at the Matori Industrial Estate, and lived in Mushin with his large family, including his four wives. Apart from being an industrialist, Ejigbadero was a well-known land speculator and property dealer. What brought him to my court was a case of murder when he was accused of killing one Raji Oba.
“As a judge, one must remain impartial about every case and not allow public sentiments to affect one’s judgement. Evidence must be presented and witnesses must be led to support or disprove every evidence. I would like to dwell more on the Ejigbadero case, which I believe generated a lot of public interest and in the long run, had more impact on the policy formulation of land matters both at the Federal level and at the State level.
“The Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution led the prosecution and built an impregnable fortress of evidence against Ejigbadero. Sometime in 1974, Ejigbadero had gone to Alimosho village on the outskirt of Lagos, to clear a piece of land which he claimed he had bought. He was challenged by some of the villagers who disputed Ejigbadero’s claim to ownership.
“The land which Ejigbadero decided to clear for a new building construction, contained cocoa, kolanut and some other cash crops. The villagers accused Ejigbadero of an attempt to seize their land illegally. Ejigbadero had come to the land with some boys alleged by the villagers to be thugs. Ejigbadero claimed they were his workers. When the villagers did not allow them to work, Ejigbadero retreated after the first encounter. He returned several times thereafter and this led to clashes during which some of the villagers, including Raji Oba, were wounded. The police at Alimosho intervened and tried to bring peace but to no avail. No one was charged to court at that stage and the police also did not make any arrest.
“On August 22, 1975, Raji Oba was relaxing in front of his house at Alimosho. It was around 7.30 p.m. as his wife hurried in. She said she had seen Ejigbadero in the neighbourhood and warned her husband that he may have come again to cause trouble. The husband agreed with his wife, saying he suspected that Ejigbadero may have come to bury charms on the farm, an all too familiar occurrences in disputes over land owernership in Yorubaland. It was at this point that a gunshot shattered the stillness of the night. Raji Oba fell. His wife, Sabitu Oba, was later to give evidence that she saw Ejigbadero fleeing from the scene of the crime in the company of six other persons. Raji Oba was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“Later that night on August 22, policemen arrested Ejigbadero in his Mushin residence. He was in the middle of a family celebration. Ramota, his young wife, who was delivered of a baby eight days earlier, was having a lavish naming ceremony with its attendant lavish party worthy of a big socialite of Ejigbadero’s social status. The party was attended by many top Nigerians including lawyers, judges, policemen, businessmen and women, socialites, top military officers and public servants. That was his alibi before the court. On the day of Raji Oba’s murder, Ejigbadero claimed he was far from the scene, attending to guests at his baby’s naming ceremony.
“Evidence presented to court was convincing enough, including that of policemen who saw Ejigbadero at Alimosho on the night of the murder. Some other villagers also gave evidence insisting that Ejigbadero came to Alimosho that night in the company of others in a Peugeot 504 station wagon. One Kehinde, one of the prosecution witnesses, gave evidence before the court. He said he was a security guard at Ejigbadero’s factory premises at Matori. He said on the night of the murder, the accused took time off from his naming ceremony, to visit the factory in the company of six other persons who were well-known to Kehinde. He named the six of them. He said they left from the factory premises in a white Peugeot 504 station wagon and returned in the night around 9p.m.
“The defence, led in evidence by Chief Sobo Sowemimo, made great effort to cast doubt on the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses. They also called witnesses to support their alibi that Ejigbadero never left his naming ceremony on that day. They called witnesses but not one of them was with Ejigbadero throughout the day. From the evidence presented before me, I had no doubt in arriving at my verdict that Ejigbadero was our man and that he committed the cold-blooded murder. He was guilty and sentenced to death.
“He appealed my judgement, but the Federal Court of Appeal in 1977 affirmed the judgement. The appeal was heard by Their Lordships Mamman Nasir, Adetunji Ogunkeye and Ijoma Aseme. Dissatistfied, Ejigbadero moved to the Supreme Court and a panel of Their Lordships Alexander, Fatai-Willimans, Irikefe, Bello and Idigbe, affirmed my judgement. The death sentence on Ejigbadero was carried out in 1979.
“The Ejigbadero case was sensational and became of national interest. It highlighted the human aspect of the chaotic land laws in Nigeria, especially in Lagos and its environs and its attendant capacity to disrupt and even destroy the lives of ordinary people. By the time the case came before my court, Nigeria was undergoing tremendous changes. The regime of General Yakubu Gowon, which came into power in 1966, had been toppled and replaced by another military regime headed by General Murtala Muhammed. When Muhammed was killed in the abortive coup of February 13, 1976, he was replaced by General Olusegun Obasanjo.
“I believed General Obasanjo or those close to him were interested in the Ejigbadero case. In 1978, the Obasanjo regime came out with the Land Use Decree which tried to streamline the issue of land ownership in Nigeria. Though it was a one blanket solution for the whole country, the decree is especially useful in Lagos for it gives full discretion to state governors on the issue of land. It also vested the ownership of all land in the state in the governor who can decide to acquire any land for the public interest.
“In the subsequent years, the decree has been replaced with the Land Use Act, but its essential features remained intact. In the past few years and especially since 2016, various state governments have attempted to address the issue of indiscriminate land-grabbing. Both the Ogun and the Lagos State governments have passed laws to prohibit seizure of land by force.”
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed a total sum of ₦1.578 trillion to the Federal Government, state and local governments for the month of March 2025, underscoring ongoing efforts to sustain intergovernmental financing and fiscal responsibility across all tiers of government.
This development was contained in a communiqué issued after the FAAC meeting, and made public by Mr Bawa Mokwa, Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, on Saturday.
According to the communiqué, the total distributable revenue of ₦1.578 trillion was made up of ₦931.325 billion from statutory revenue, ₦593.750 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT), ₦24.971 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and ₦28.711 billion from exchange difference earnings.
FAAC revealed that the total gross revenue available in March stood at ₦2.411 trillion, signalling a strong revenue performance. From this amount, ₦85.376 billion was deducted for the cost of collection, while transfers, interventions and refunds accounted for ₦747.180 billion.
Further breakdown of the report indicates that the gross statutory revenue of ₦1.718 trillion received in March represented an increase of ₦65.422 billion when compared to the ₦1.653 trillion recorded in February.
The disbursement reflects the continued dedication of public financial managers and revenue-generating agencies who are working relentlessly under challenging economic conditions to ensure that government at all levels is adequately funded to meet the needs of the populace.
Observers and analysts view this steady growth in revenue as a positive trajectory, albeit with the understanding that transparency, accountability and prudent utilisation of public funds remain key to achieving lasting socio-economic impact.
National Issues
Gbenga Daniel Seeks End to Immunity for Governors, Calls for Constitutional Amendment
Senator Gbenga Daniel, representing Ogun East Senatorial District, has raised concerns over the misuse of constitutional immunity by state governors and their deputies, calling for an urgent amendment to the relevant section of Nigeria’s constitution.
Speaking on Political Paradigm, a Channels Television programme aired on Tuesday, the former governor of Ogun State (2003–2011) argued that Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, which shields sitting governors and their deputies from both civil and criminal prosecution, has been widely abused.
Section 308 of the Nigerian Constitution grants immunity to the President, Vice President, governors, and deputy governors while in office, effectively barring legal proceedings against them throughout their tenure. However, Daniel insisted that this provision has been misused to avoid scrutiny and justice.
The senator’s remarks have stirred renewed debate about constitutional reform and accountability in public office, especially at a time when governance and transparency remain major concerns in Nigeria’s democratic journey.
Daniel’s call adds to the voices of other stakeholders who have advocated for a more accountable leadership structure and a constitution that upholds justice irrespective of office held.
As of press time, there has been no official response from the Nigerian Governors’ Forum regarding Senator Daniel’s comments.
TEXT OF THE BROADCAST BY PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES, DECLARING STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RIVERS STATE ON TUESDAY 18 MARCH 2025
Fellow Nigerians, I feel greatly disturbed at the turn we have come to regarding the political crisis in Rivers State. Like many of you, I have watched with concern the development with the hope that the parties involved would allow good sense to prevail at the soonest, but all that hope burned out without any solution to the crisis.
With the crisis persisting, there is no way democratic governance, which we have all fought and worked for over the years, can thrive in a way that will redound to the benefit of the good people of the state. The state has been at a standstill since the crisis started, with the good people of the state not being able to have access to the dividends of democracy.
Also, it is public knowledge that the Governor of Rivers State for unjustifiable reasons, demolished the House of Assembly of the state as far back as 13th December 2023 and has, up until now, fourteen (14) months after, not rebuilt same. I have made personal interventions between the contending parties for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, but my efforts have been largely ignored by the parties to the crisis. I am also aware that many well-meaning Nigerians, Leaders of thought and Patriotic groups have also intervened at various times with the best of intentions to resolve the matter, but all their efforts were also to no avail. Still, I thank them.
On February 28, 2025, the supreme court, in a judgment in respect of about eight consolidated appeals concerning the political crisis in Rivers State, based on several grave unconstitutional acts and disregard of rule of law that have been committed by the Governor of Rivers State as shown by the evidence before it pronounced in very clear terms:
“a government cannot be said to exist without one of the three arms that make up the government of a state under the 1999 Constitution as amended. In this case the head of the executive arm of the government has chosen to collapse the legislature to enable him to govern without the legislature as a despot. As it is there is no government in Rivers State.”
The above pronouncement came after a catalogue of judicial findings of constitutional breaches against the Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Going Forward in their judgment, and having found and held that 27 members of the House who had allegedly defected
“are still valid members of Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot be prevented from participating in the proceedings of that House by the 8th Respondent (that is, the Governor) in cohorts with four members”
The Supreme Court then made some orders to restore the state to immediate constitutional democracy. These orders include the immediate passing of an Appropriation Bill by the Rivers State House of Assembly which up till now has not been facilitated.
Some militants had threatened fire and brimstone against their perceived enemy of the governor who has up till now NOT disowned them.
Apart from that both the House and the governor have not been able to work together.
Both of them do not realise that they are in office to work together for the peace and good governance of the state.
The latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday and today there have been disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militant without the governor taking any action to curtail them. I have, of course given stern order to the security agencies to ensure safety of lives of the good people of Rivers State and the oil pipelines.
With all these and many more, no good and responsible President will standby and allow the grave situation to continue without taking remedial steps prescribed by the Constitution to address the situation in the state, which no doubt requires extraordinary measures to restore good governance, peace, order and security.
In the circumstance, having soberly reflected on and evaluated the political situation in Rivers State and the Governor and Deputy Governor of Rivers State having failed to make a request to me as President to issue this proclamation as required by section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, it has become inevitably compelling for me to invoke the provision of section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State with effect from today, 18th March, 2025 and I so do.
By this declaration, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu and all elected members of the House of Assembly of Rivers State are hereby suspended for an initial period of six months.
In the meantime, I hereby nominate Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) as Administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state in the interest of the good people of Rivers State. For the avoidance of doubt, this declaration does not affect the judicial arm of Rivers State, which shall continue to function in accordance with their constitutional mandate.
The Administrator will not make any new laws. He will, however, be free to formulate regulations as may be found necessary to do his job, but such regulations will need to be considered and approved by the Federal Executive Council and promulgated by the President for the state.
This declaration has been published in the Federal Gazette, a copy of which has been forwarded to the National Assembly in accordance with the Constitution. It is my fervent hope that this inevitable intervention will help to restore peace and order in Rivers State by awakening all the contenders to the constitutional imperatives binding on all political players in Rivers State in particular and Nigeria as a whole.
Long live a united, peaceful, secure and democratic Rivers State in particular and the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a whole.
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