This is Zikoko Citizen’s Game of Votes weekly dispatch that helps you dig into all the good, bad, and extremely bizarre stuff happening in Nigeria and why they’re important to you.
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This week has shown us nothing is impossible, and impossible is nothing. It started off with Lionel Messi’s village people finally allowing him to win the World Cup, and in an even stranger turn of events, a Nigerian politician convicted of money laundering actually had the decency to step down from his political position instead of just closing his eyes till the bad news all went away.
On December 19, 2022, a federal high court in Abuja found Doyin Okupe guilty of money laundering. While he was an aide to former president, Goodluck Jonathan, he received over ₦200 million from former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, without going through a financial institution.
Nigerian law frowns upon such transactions because that kind of process makes it easy to steal even if done with the best of intentions like Okupe claimed he was doing. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) dragged him to court for that shady deal and the judge sentenced him to two years in prison on many counts. But he also had the option to pay a fine that totalled ₦13 million.
For those who don’t remember or know Doyin Okupe, he was, until recently, the Director-General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council. When news of his conviction broke, many Nigerians raised their eyebrows, mainly because of his role in the Obi-Datti campaign. Peter Obi’s opps seemed ecstatic at the opportunity to finally call the so-called messiah out as a fraud, but all the haters were silenced when Okupe posted his resignation letter on December 20, 2022.
The bar is very low when it comes to Nigerian politicians, and this is why Okupe’s resignation shocked many of us. Nigerians are used to seeing money laundering cases swept under the rug, and the offenders moving freely while flaunting their extravagant lifestyles. But Okupe’s case proves that maybe all is not completely lost.
What else happened this week?
Nigerian Doctors Are Catching Hands When They Need To Catch A Break
Everybody is going through it in this country, but doctors seem to be especially punished for working in Nigeria. After spending years surviving medical school and trying to reconcile with the peanuts the government pays them, they may also need to learn martial arts to deal with patients.
On December 21, 2022, a 56-year-old man, Ayodele Falomo and his son, Ayoola, appeared before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ogun State for assaulting a doctor. Moments after the doctor pronounced their relative dead, they repeatedly slapped her before other people came to her rescue.
The court allowed her attackers get away with a ₦200k fine each and a written apology. But they probably just helped another Nigerian doctor decide to japa.
Video of the week
Question of the week?
During the inauguration of the Blue Line Rail system this week, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu mentioned that Lagos has now become like London under his watch. Do you agree with him?
Ehen one more thing…
Meffy has finally bowed to public pressure and raised the weekly withdrawal limits of individuals to ₦500k and corporate bodies to ₦5 million. Here’s how the former withdrawal policy affected different people.
