Former Presidential Aide to IGP: Focus on Security, Leave Sowore Alone

Former presidential aide, Laolu Akande, has called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to redirect his focus to more pressing national issues rather than pursuing activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore. Speaking during his weekly My Take segment on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande aired on Channels Television on Friday, Akande […]

Former presidential aide, Laolu Akande, has called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to redirect his focus to more pressing national issues rather than pursuing activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore.

Speaking during his weekly My Take segment on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande aired on Channels Television on Friday, Akande expressed concern over what he described as misplaced priorities by the police leadership.

“We observed that this past week, the court has given the Inspector General of Police the permission to go after the banking records of Mr. Omoyele Sowore after the Inspector General of Police sought that order,” Akande noted. “This is happening in the same country where we have a sitting minister accuse a former minister, a former governor, of stealing ₦48 billion from the NDDC. Where was the Inspector General of Police when that was said?”

He further queried why the police appeared inactive when a Chief of Staff to a current minister openly admitted that during his tenure as a governor, results of local government elections in Rivers State were written from the governor’s office.

“Where was the Inspector General of Police on that matter? There are bigger issues, Mr. Inspector General of Police, than going after an activist like Omoyele Sowore. There are bigger issues that you need to pay attention to,” Akande stressed.

He advised Egbetokun to rise above distractions, including Sowore’s legal challenge to his tenure extension, and instead focus on delivering on his primary responsibility of securing Nigerians.

“Yes, Omoyele is contesting whether indeed your extension is legal, but you are in office. You should not be distracted by that opposition from him. Get the job done, secure the Nigerian people, and stop pursuing this man. It is completely something that profits no one,” he added.

In the same programme, Akande lauded Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, for approving a ₦104,000 minimum wage for workers in the state.

“This is indeed a progressive move,” Akande said. “Claims of his chairmanship of the Progressive Governors’ Forum are actually boosted by his resolve and determination to go outside of the box to pay the workers in the state a decent salary. Now, this is hoping that all the other governors and even the federal government can rise up and pay the Nigerian worker a decent salary. So this is kudos to Governor Hope Uzodimma. Please keep up this kind of good work.”

Akande also addressed the planned warning strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over unresolved aspects of the 2009 agreement with the federal government. While acknowledging the legitimacy of ASUU’s concerns, he urged both parties to sustain the progress achieved in recent years.

“In the last two years, there seems to have been some kind of an understanding between FG and ASUU, which is a good thing. We would like to hear that it is under the Tinubu administration, fair is fair, that the ₦50 billion earned academic allowance has been paid for the first time since the agreement. That is something that goes to the credit of this administration,” he remarked.

Akande encouraged ASUU to collaborate with the current Minister of Education, whom he described as focused and result-driven, to prevent a return to prolonged strikes that have historically disrupted Nigeria’s university system.

On the political front, Akande welcomed the decision of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South.

“Yes, Nyesom Wike is right. It seems to be a late decision, but better late than never. The idea that eight years we go to the north, eight years we go to the south, in this consensus of rotational presidency is something that everyone in the political scene ought to keep faithful to,” he said.

He warned against allowing political imbalance, noting: “We can’t have a situation where eight years of the north is followed by another four or eight years from the north. It’s just not fair. So, kudos to PDP for coming back to common sense.”

Akande described the move as a fresh start for the opposition party:
“I dare say that this move by the PDP to zone the presidency to the south for 2027 is the beginning of the resurrection of the Peoples Democratic Party.”