Information reaching me indicates that officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on the invitation of the Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun are combing the Ministry of Information and Strategy where I served as Commissioner during the tenure of Otunba Gbenga Daniel. The Ogun State Government wants the EFCC to fish for phoney evidence to be used in the prosecution of a project to get me out of circulation by all means.
The purpose is to arrest me on trump up allegations of graft. The real reason however is to get me out of circulation based on my principled stand against the policies of the administration and my coordinating a group, the Association for Greater Ogun State (AGOS), which released its first assessment of the Senator Ibikunle Amosun administration on Monday March 5, 2011, through the publication of an advertorial in some national newspapers. It should also be noted that the administration and its principal officers, including the Governor see me as a thorn in their flesh, since I am also the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Western Publishing Limited, publishers of the Nigerian Compass and Westerner Magazine, two publications seen in Ogun State official circles as critical of the administration.
I therefore use this medium to alert members of the public, human rights groups, the media religious bodies and well meaning Nigerians of the plot against my personal liberty and person by the Ogun State Government led by Senator Ibikunle Amosun.
It would be recalled that one of the very first acts of Senator Ibikunle Amosun in June 2011 was to order for my arrest over the statement I made on the controversy that followed the renaming of the Mike Adenuga International Stadium Ijebu Ode. It took the maturity of the then Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, Mr Musa Daura, who released me after I made a statement on the issue. I have also been warned through several means that my principled stand against the administration is ruffling feathers and that I should watch my back.
I have not done anything to warrant the current inquisition and attempts by the Ogun government to curtail my freedom and cause my arrest. We are all joint stake holders who have the right to hold and disseminate opinion in a democracy
Sina Kawonise
Immediate past Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Ogun State
Managing Director Westerner Publishing Company, publishers of Nigerian Compass and
Westerner Magazine
