Senator Babafemi Ojudu is a journalist and lawmaker born in Ado-Ekiti on March 27th,1961. He has just been appointed the special adviser to President Buhari, he will be handling political matters for Nigeria’s leader.
Beyond the fact that this journalist was born in Ekiti state, there are other very important details regarding his personality that tells better why he has been chosen for the vital role in this current dispensation.
Here are five very pertinent that Nigerians must know of Buhari’s new adviser on political matters.
Erudite Scholar If there is any qualify that would be befitting for Ojudu, then it will be the term erudite scholar, as he showed great scholarly promise even from his youth. It is on record that in 1976, Ojudu won a scholarship jointly sponsored by activist lawyer Gani Fawehinmi and Jùjú musician King Sunny Adé for indigent students of Ekiti state.
He studied English at the University of Ife, Ile- Ife and after graduating in 1984, he went on to the University of Lagos where in 1986, he obtained his master’s degree in political science. Dauntless Journalist After his journalistic exploits in Ife and Unilag, Ojudu started writing for African Concord magazine. He started as a staff writer and moved up to assistant www.
However, in 1992, Ojudu resigned in protest of a request by MKO Abiola, the publisher, to apologies to the then President Ibrahim Babangida. He refused to apologise over a piece critical of the military regime. In 1993, he and other former workers at the African Concord established The News magazine, with Ojudu as its first managing www.
The new special adviser to the president on political issues, Senator Babafemi Ojudu Respecter of everyone, Afraid of no one Ojudu was arrested, tortured and detained several times during the Sani Abacha regime (1993–1998). He was arrested and detained for three days at the notorious Shagisha prison in the outskirts of Lagos on August 11, 1996.
His detention was due to an article in The News about the the oil minister, Dan Etete. The article alleged that Etete was giving government contracts on behalf of the Nigerian state oil company to his family and friends. He was arrested on 17 November 1997 after returning from a conference in Kenya.
In July 1998 (after the death of Abacha) it was reported that he was suffering from typhoid fever and jaundice, both life-threatening, caused by the unsanitary conditions in which he was detained and denial of access to medication Man of the people Ojudu is loved by the Ekiti people, and that fact was made evident when he formally declared that he would run for the Senate in August 2010. He left his post as Group Managing Editor of Independent Communications Network to run for office.
On January 10, 2011, the ACN primaries for a candidate in the Ekiti central senatorial seat, were held in three of the five local government areas (LGAs) that make up the senatorial district. Ojudu won in all three areas. The primaries for the other two LGAs were rescheduled, but eventually did not hold.
Thus, the ACN submitted Ojudu’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as their candidate for Ekiti central. Man of integrity Events in the political landscape of Ekiti took a sad turn for Ojudu, when on March 17, 2011, a Federal High Court in Abuja issued a judgment, recognizing the incumbent Senator Festus Bode-Ola as the ACN candidate for Ekiti Central.
Following the High court’s verdict, the then chairman of Ekiti state ACN, Chief Jide Awe, accused Bode Ola of forgery in the papers he had filed, saying the INEC had recognized him as candidate.
On March 31, 2011, the Federal High Court in Abuja set aside its 17 March judgment. Fortunately, in the April 2011 election for the Ekiti central senatorial seat, Ojudu polled 67,747 running on the ACN platform, while the Labour Party (LP) candidate and former Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose received 29,773 votes. INEC report also reveals that Kayode Alufa of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) received 29,488 votes, thereby affirming Ojudu’s position as the Senator for the district.
These are but a few very important facts that needs to be known of President Buhari’s newly appointed special adviser on political matters. If you think there are other very pertinent facts that have been left out of this review, do share in our comment section.