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Retired Colonel, Babatunde Bello-Fadile, Nigeria’s first military lawyer, has revealed that former President Muhammadu Buhari once threatened to expel him from the military over a letter he wrote in 1981.
Bello-Fadile made the disclosure in his memoir, ‘Nine Lives: The Bello-Fadile Memoirs’, recounting his experience while serving in the Nigerian Army.
At the time, Buhari was the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Infantry Division in Ibadan, Oyo State.
In the book, the retired colonel detailed his initial encounter with Buhari during a general court-martial, where several officers were found guilty of an offence.
The retired military lawyer noted that the order raised concerns, prompting him to write a letter expressing his views on the matter.
The letter, however, led to a confrontation with Buhari, who allegedly threatened to remove him from the army.
He said, “Those in guardroom then wrote petitions to the chief of army staff, who was then Lt General Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi. All the proceedings of the court-martial were reviewed, with recommendations made by Director of Personnel Services ‘A’ (DPS ‘A’), A Branch for final approval by the COAS.
“The petition from those in the guardroom, which was sent to COAS, was forwarded to A Branch for review and necessary actions.
“Brigadier Shelling endorsed it to DPS ‘A’, Colonel Ode, who, in turn, initialed it to me for action. By the time I read the petition, I was the only one in the office, with Major Demsa as the most senior officer.
“I did a draft requesting the Division to send the record of proceedings to the AHO immediately and that those officers in the guardroom should be moved to the Officers’ Mess too.”
Bello-Fadile said in the letter addressed to the division led by Buhari, he wrote that the officers should not be treated as if they were in “Germany’s gestapo custody” – and that infuriated him.
The lawyer said when he was summoned and was waiting to see the army chief, Buhari walked in and asked Wushishi’s assistant; “Is this the captain? Either I leave the army, or he will leave the army.”
Bello-Fadile said everything was resolved after he informed Wushishi that he had withdrawn the letter and apologised for using the word “gestapo”.
“That was how I was able to escape my first encounter with brigadier-general Muhammadu Buhari in 1981 unhurt, so to say,” he said.
The lawyer said years later, when Buhari was head of state, he did not want to see him at Dodan barracks, which was the seat of power at the time, adding that he had to leave Lagos to Kaduna, where he went to study obtain a PhD in international law.
The Presidency has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of failing to set a strong foundation for Nigeria as the first president of the fourth republic.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Public Communication and Orientation, Sunday Dare, described former President Obasanjo as a man with a tremendous capacity for mischief.
Dare stated this on Monday while reacting to the former President’s criticism of President Tinubu’s leadership style.
“Former President Obasanjo is a man with a tremendous capacity for mischief and Nigerians know it. His journey along the path of hallucinations has never been in doubt. So is his descent into muddling facts, forgetting that he ran a Presidency on record as the most corrupt. His recent diatribe at Yale University lacks sincerity,” he said.
Dare argued that under the administration of Obasanjo, $16 billion was diverted from its intended intention of ensuring stable electricity in the country. He dismissed Obasanjo‘s moral right to criticize any government in Nigeria.
“It is actually laughable that Obasanjo’s pretentiousness about fighting corruption is not cutting any ice in “the eyes of the general public. We all know what happened under his watch and how, up till the present moment, there has been no explanation as to how he wasted a whopping $16bn in generating megawatts of darkness across the nation. But that is not even the issue.
“Democracy suffered mortal wounds under his watch only capped by his murderous rage for an ill-fated 3rd term. Successive administrations struggled to clean up the mess Obasanjo left behind, which President Tinubu is now making progress with. Obasanjo has lost any moral right to condemn any government. He should apologize to Nigerians for not laying the foundational infrastructure Nigeria needed to advance,” Dare stated.
Tinubu’s aide added that his principal has been making efforts to put Nigeria back on the track of development.
“The point here is that Obasanjo should take time off this habit of pulling down leaders, especially his successors and try to interrogate himself on how he has contributed to the parlous state of the Nigerian nation which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is now spiritedly battling to put back on the track of development,” he added.
![Pastors, oil barons were after Regina Daniels before I married her – Ned Nwoko [VIDEO]](/media/k2/items/cache/552deb892e771adc0e0a458fba1fee93_M.jpg)
Senator Ned Nwoko has validated his wife, actress Regina Daniels’ previous claim of having multiple suitors before their marriage.
DAILY POST reports that the actress had in October, revealed that she had over 20 boyfriends for different purposes before meeting Ned.
However, speaking in a now trending video on social media, Ned Nwoko confirmed his wife’s claim.
Discussing Daniels’ past relationships with his friends, Ned said “She is such a gem. Just like she mentioned recently yes she had 20 men.
“She told me there were so many suitors including pastors, oil bunkers, film producers. And how they were sending her things.”
Sharing the video on her Instagram page, Regina Daniels wrote; “Honestly, I always love hearing hubby speak about me with so much love, especially in my absence.”
Watch him speak below
The Emeritus Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, has pointed out that politicians driven by greed often select churches and preachers that do not challenge their corrupt practices.
The respected cleric emphasized that it is the duty of religious leaders to speak truthfully to their congregations to foster meaningful societal change.
Onaiyekan made these remarks during his appearance on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political show on Channels Television.
“I have noticed in Nigeria that greedy people have a way of choosing the kind of churches they go to and which preachers they listen to. If they go to a church where they are constantly being challenged and made uncomfortable, they won’t come back next Sunday but we need more of that,” the Cardinal explained.
He argued that building grand cathedrals filled with worshippers is not enough, adding that there must be a deeper, transformative impact on society.
“The official religious institutions we have in Nigeria have a task to do self-evaluation. They should ask themselves: have we been projecting the right message of our faiths? If we have been doing it, we will not have this kind of outcome.
“The kind of corrupt and godly outcomes have shown that the kind of religiousness that we have is not leading anywhere,” he stated.
Cardinal Onaiyekan cautioned against the complacency of religious institutions in Nigeria, urging them to reflect on their role.
“We cannot just be rejoicing that our churches are full, that we are building big churches. Very good but we still want to see where is godliness in all of these. And if religion does not lead to godliness, it is even worse than none at all,” he added.
The Archbishop lamented the growing corruption among the country’s leaders, whose mismanagement has deepened the nation’s poverty.
“There is so much impunity. People take a lot of things that don’t belong to them and nobody asks them. Whereas if a poor man steals a piece of yam in the village, they throw him in jail for six months or more. So, there is something wrong with the justice system,” he said.
Since last month when a new national coalition, Save Democracy Mega Alliance 2027 (SDMA’27), launched a campaign to amend Nigeria’s constitution to remove the President’s authority over the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and state governors’ power over the State Independent Electoral Commissions, SIECs, quite a number of Nigerians have applauded the move.
The coalition is also pushing for amendment in the constitution to equally remove the president’s powers over the judiciary, particularly in the appointment of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, as well as that of the Chief Judge of State in the case of state governors.
Before the group launched the campaign, there had been calls from several quarters to remove the powers to appoint the heads of the electoral body and judicial arm of the government from the president.
The argument behind the call is that such practice does not guarantee the full independence of both the electoral body and the judiciary because he who pays the piper dictates the tune.
The coalition is also arguing along the same line as it insisted that removing such powers from the president would prevent executive influence in the electoral and judicial systems by transferring the power to appoint heads of the two institutions to a new independent body to be set up thereafter.
Speaking at a briefing in Abuja, recently, the coalition’s spokesperson, Tony Akeni Le Moin, announced that the coalition would formally launch the campaign across all states, culminating in a “boot camp” finale in Abuja.
He tied the SDMA’27’s focus on two main constitutional amendments, stripping the president and governors of their powers to appoint INEC, SIEC, and judiciary heads and transferring these responsibilities to a body of non-partisan and integrity-vetted Nigerians.
The coalition which has been endorsed by prominent leaders and pro-democracy groups across the country, has also garnered support from Professor Pat Utomi, a well-respected political economist.
Utomi, who has described the movement as a significant milestone for Nigeria’s democracy since 1999, equally referenced the Justice Uwais Electoral Reform report as the most appropriate point to start from.
According to him, the report also recommended executive appointment reforms for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the judiciary, as insulating the institutions from executive influence would foster fair elections and improve governance.
The coalition outlined a three-point plan, including mobilising national consensus across political, religious, and civil society networks to create a unified demand for constitutional reforms. The group’s target is to build momentum for a national conference to formally propose the amendments and to lobby both the national and state assemblies to strip the executive of its overbearing influence on the INEC and the judiciary.
The step according to the group is to forestall the reoccurrence of the ugly incident that characterized the 2023 elections in 2027.
It warned that without the reforms, the 2027 elections would likely be a rehearsal of past electoral manipulations.
The group invoked Rev. Martin Luther King Junior’s words on the need for organised resistance, urging Nigerians to prepare for what they described as a “national emergency” to restore Nigeria’s democracy.
Commenting on the development, the president of the Middle Belt Forum, MBF, Dr. Pogu Bitrus told DAILY POST that it is not necessarily about who appoints, but most importantly about who fires.
Ho noted that in addition to who fires, the institution must be strengthened such that who appoints or fires doesn’t matter much as such a person would always be guided and put under check by such a strong institution in place.
He said: “The truth about the matter in Nigeria is not even about who appoints the head of the electoral body or the judiciary, but who fires who. Yes, who fires who matters to some extent.
“If the president can appoint but he has no powers to fire or to remove, that might solve the problem.
“It is the fear of being fired if you not do what they want that makes them do what they do rather than just because you appoint them, because even if you appoint somebody and you don’t grease his elbows and he doesn’t fear that if he doesn’t do what you want he might be fired, then he will not be obliged to do what you want him to do. So, it doesn’t necessarily matter who appoints who but who fires who.
“Secondly, the institution has to be strengthened to the level that people will even fear to do the wrong thing.
“For instance, in China, they have a rule that one can lose his life even in some common things we call gratifications here, not to even talk of the real bribery.
“If judges, INEC boss or any other person knows that if he does the wrong thing and it is traced that he can lose his life, he will not compromise, no matter the amount of money that is involved. That checks and balances can keep them away from doing the wrong thing and force them to do the right thing.
“So, it is not who appoints or who fires but as I said that who fires and the laws have to be strengthened such that the checks and balances are so stringent.
“And that if you do wrong, you know you could lose your life and all your families will be obliterated, so you will not do it.
“So, I think these are the things we need to introduce into the law, rather than who appoints and who doesn’t appoint.
“And then, we can strengthen the law to go beyond that, by saying that even the person who influenced them to do the wrong thing should equally be treated the way the offenders are treated.
“That way, we can ensure that things are done rightly. You know the problem is not that we don’t have laws on the ground. As I am talking, there are laws on the ground that I believe have checks and balances in this regard, but the institutions are weak; and because they are weak, these laws don’t mean a lot.
“So, we should know how to strengthen the institutions, whether it is INEC, the police, the military or the judiciary, so that they can be independent. They can have real probity, accountability and then a respect of law will come in.
“We have already messed the system up and it would require these draconian rules and laws to be able to do the right thing again.”
Also, in his submission, president of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima expressed doubt about setting up an independent body to oversee such appointments.
He said the system has been so centralized that granting independence to such a separate body might not be possible because the president and commander in chief has enormous powers to do anything.
“The problem is with the independent body. How can you talk about independence when you have a system that is already centralized? And that is why I am an advocate of decentralization. Who is independent now in the country?
“Now, specifically, you are talking about the appointment of the INEC chairman which is the one that is expected to go through screening and be nominated by the NASS.
“That is what I am getting from other quarters but the fact still remains that we still have the commander in chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who oversees everything.”
He also expressed doubt about the capacity of the current National Assembly, NASS, to strip the president of such powers.
He cited the alleged rubber stamp disposition of the current NASS to buttress his argument.
He told DAILY POST that, “stripping the president of the powers to appoint the INEC chairman or the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, cannot happen under the watch of the current NASS that I know of.
“The current NASS is a total rubber stamp and they can’t do anything. So, I don’t even want to waste my energy by saying I believe or assume that anything like that will ever happen. Maybe in the future that will be done but not now.”
He also emphasised the need for strong institutions as the panacea to most of the problems confronting the country at present.
He equally advised that instead of the group or any other person or persons dissipating their energy pushing to strip the president of such power, they should come together and push that INEC as an institution should be strengthened such that it can no longer dance to the whims and caprices of anybody, including the president.
“So, rather than wasting our energy on that; let us see how we can strengthen the institutions. It is not about the independence of the INEC but about strengthening the INEC as an institution.
“There are a lot of reforms that need to be carried out in INEC. If those reforms can be put in place, I think we would have solved most of the problems confronting the INEC and the president will no longer have the capacity to influence the body,” he submitted.
Also speaking, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Lagos State, Adebayo Fadipe, lauded the move, saying it would restore the integrity of the electoral body.
He believes that the name ‘independence,’ as attached to the electoral body’s name, is just a mere whitewash as the body is under the firm control of the President who hires and fires at will.
He also lamented that chairmen of the INEC in the past have all compromised except one or two of them who distinguished themselves creditably.
“But if the powers are removed from the president and given to an independent body, meaning that the INEC chairman is no longer answerable to the president, I think we will begin to have a semblance of credible election in this country.
“The INEC chairmen have always been under the firm grip of the president who dictates what happens. And the past chairmen including the current one have always danced to the tune of the powers that appointed them and it should not be like that.
“They should be independent and work for the good of all Nigerians and not work for a group of individuals. That is why it has not been possible to have credible elections in Nigeria.
“But, if that is done, then it will open a new chapter of electoral credibility in Nigeria.
“All the manipulations that have come to characterise our electoral jurisprudence will become things of the past and the country can become a reference point for other countries when it comes to conducting credible elections,” he told DAILY POST.
Afrobeats star, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has announced that he will be commemorating his 32nd birthday with a N300 million donation to orphanages.
The singer disclosed this via his X handle on Monday morning.
He explained that the donation would be made to orphanages and a charity that fights against drug abuse among youths.
He promised to share more details in subsequent posts.
The OBO crooner wrote, “Once again, for my birthday this year, we are donating to orphanages and a charity that helps young people stay away from drug abuse & addiction. This year is N300m. Details to follow soon.”
This is not the first time Davido has donated to charity in commemoration of his birthday.
In November 2021, Davido donated N250m to 292 orphanages in celebration of his 29th birthday.
The Emeritus Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, has described the administration of President Bola Tinubu as a ‘minority government’, stating that more Nigerians voted against him in the 2023 election.
Naija News reports that the cleric while featuring on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme on Channels Television, said Tinubu, the then-candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), should switch from campaign mode to governance mode and serve Nigerians well.
Onaiyekan warned Tinubu against running a polarised government where his political cronies are rewarded with appointments, noting that it was not the best way to move the country forward.
He urged the President to do his best to move the nation forward as he would give account of his stewardship to God.
He said, “There are Nigerians who did not vote for APC. Granted that APC got the highest number of votes and that is why they have the right to rule us. But they also forget that there are millions of Nigerians who did not (vote for the APC).
“Whatever the rules say, the reality is that more people vote against Mr President than those who voted for him.
“Even if you are a minority government, which is what I call what we have now, you still have a duty to serve the people and to do all you can to give everybody what is their right, and to rule well.
“Mr President, it’s about time you switched from campaign mode to governance mode. Elections are over. Campaigns are over. You now have to govern and govern the whole of Nigeria and every Nigerian.
“And therefore, the whole system whereby high political offices are given as a reward for those who were political activists, I don’t believe that that is the best way to move the nation forward.
“I would say, now that you (Tinubu) have been declared the President of Nigeria, sit down comfortably on that chair. As a religious leader, I would say God has allowed you on that chair. If God puts you there, you must then know that he is watching you and that He will be asking you what you did on that chair.”
Former Governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Segun Showunmi, has called on the party chieftains to get serious and fix the ongoing crisis in the party.
Naija News reports that Showunmi made this call in a post via his X handle on Monday, stating that the party had failed to secure victory in three off-cycle elections, which clearly shows that the PDP has become its own enemy.
He said the party’s core principles and objectives have been broken, and there is a need to review operating manuals from wards down to states and the national level.
Showunmi state also called for the reformation of the opposition party and not to continue with assumptions; hence, they will not get big northern states.
The post read, “PDP, PDP, PDP!!! It is time to truly reform. After having 3 back to back elections that did not yield to forming a government, especially the last outing that has shown clearly that we have become our enemies. There is no point passing the bulk or blame game, no this is the time to get serious and fix our party.
“Our core principles and objectives have been broken, from our need to review our operating manuals from wards down to states to national, we can no longer get by the way we have done, it is not unusual for a 25 years organization especially a political party to ask itself pertinent questions around why do things happen they way they have for a while now, and how do we forestall a reoccurrence. (First written 21/08/23.)
“I have reason to return to it after our dismal performance in off-season elections. We must review our election management framework, we are due for a stricter audit and reverse logistics review of precisely who was assigned what and how did they the task.
“We can not pretend we don’t know that resources assigned are majorly diverted and that somehow it has now become fashionable to be careless with the day-of-the-vote activities only to come back and blame everyone but ourselves.
“We must rethink what we mean by campaigning where we gather our so-called members in rallies and excite ourselves by claiming we are campaigning, we can not be speaking to the converted who are quick to betray when there is a large pool of voters who don’t get persuaded to come out and votes.
“It is idiotic to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. The attitude of our serving governors to elections needs to be compared with those of our rivals and we will see clearly where we lost or if it makes you happy where we were rigged.
“What type of relationships do we build with critical election stakeholders, students, civil societies, opinion moulders, strong boys as we prefer to call them who are local enforcers and protectors of their territories, what about with the security and with Inec or do we consider them the exclusive preserve of the ruling party.
“The business of assumption is over. There is no basis for us to be losing under the circumstances We are losing because we are not doing the right thing. Do not be deceived we can not win an election simply by playing up tribalism, for both parties now have national spread The big northern votes won’t just fall into our laps. We must run a stylized campaign to make them come.
“Yield this responsibility to those who are passionate and knowledgeable and watch our rivals crumble. They are made of clay feet almost like Goliath and I wearing the full armour of the holy spirit in the order of David will slay them. It starts with preparing ourselves That’s why I preach reformation of our party.”
A former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, has condemned the party’s National Chairman, Umar Damagum over a report of meeting President Bola Tinubu.
Ologbondiyan challenged Damagum to issue a clarification regarding the alleged secret meeting with Tinubu.
In a statement he signed, the PDP chieftain urged the party leaders to rescue the party from the “stranglehold of Damagum and his backers if the party must be revitalised to perform optimally as an opposition political party.”
He said: “How can the head of the leading opposition party be accused of ‘nicodemously’ meeting with the President of the ruling government, and he would have no response to provide?”
Expressing concern over PDP’s loss in Saturday’s Ondo State governorship election, Ologbondiyan stressed that successive off-season elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun may suffer the fate of Kogi, Imo and Ondo States if the substantive National Chairman is not restored.
“It is reprehensible that the Acting National Chairman is supervising the dishevelling of the party.
“Amb. Damagun has the least of interest in working for the success of the party in any election,” he added.
The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Myson Nejo, has expressed concern over the alleged vote trading that characterised Saturday’s poll in Ondo State.
While frowning over the development, Nejo, who came third in the election with 4,138 votes, maintained that he lost the election due to his refusal to buy votes.
According to him, those who could afford to buy votes from the electorate won the election.
Nejo, who stated this on Sunday, stressed that despite losing the election, he was satisfied with himself.
“I thank the good people of Ondo State for voting for me. Without giving them any money, they still voted for me. I want to believe that my vote is a valid vote because there was nothing like vote-buying or any unethical practices on my side. So far, I want to believe I’m a winner in this election,” he said.
On the issue of vote-buying during the election, Nejo pointedly stated that votes were being bought for as much as N20,000, describing the development as worrisome.
“People were buying votes for N20,000 or N15,000, and in my polling unit, it was N10,000 to N15,000. Because I didn’t have money and I told them I wasn’t going to give even a kobo to buy votes, I ended up with only two votes in my unit and about 40 votes in total.
“But I don’t care. People were calling me, asking for money in exchange for their votes, but I stood my ground. If they want to vote, they should vote. I wasn’t going to give a kobo to buy votes,” Nejo said.
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Popular Nigerian rapper, Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike, also known as Phyno has stated that music is a jealous and tasking” career.
According to him juggling marriage and music together is incredibly difficult.
Sharing his thoughts on celebrities getting married, Phyno opined that most celebrities careers crash when they get married.
He stated this in a recent episode of the In ‘My Opinion’ podcast.
He said, “Check everybody, statistically, I feel so [most celebrities’ careers crash when they get married].
“Music basically is a jealous career. That’s why people drop out of school to face music. The ones that had to juggle the two, you have to give them kudos because it’s not easy. Sometimes, some people get to a certain fame level and rush back to school and come back to continue from where they stopped because you have to actually face one. Music is tasking; it takes all your time
“Another thing about music is that it is what you pass through that you put into it—life experiences—except if you use songwriters. But if you write your songs, you can’t be talking about happiness when you’ve got a girlfriend that’s stressing you.”
Popular Nigerian lawyer, Femi Falana has called out Pastor Enoch Adeboye.
He accused Adeboye of building business centers and not religious institutions.
Falana stated this while speaking in an interview with Sahara TV.
He noted that Pastor Adeboye had recently said something about opening more churches so that people can have a church within walking distance.
According to Femi Falana, that is opening more business centers and not religious institutions.
Check out reactions that followed:
official_devon91 said: “Old fuul. Watin concern you. RCCG helped me as a drummer throughout the 4 years of my first degree”
suparay_dike wrote: “Fela also sang that lawyer wey nor know him work, na suwegbe oooooooh”
oosha.e said: “Personally I don’t take redeem church goers seriously ?”
singerboy_vibez asked: “So this is not defam^tion of character ? ?”
amkleb said: “Pastor Adeboye abeg sue him for defaming ???”
iam_luciouss remarked: “Can Adeboye sue for Defamation? Because VDM nor talk reach like this una begin run up and down like headless chicken”
adelakuntufayl commented: “To all those who have a whole lot to say but decided to remain silent, may this new week favor you all! ???”
Nigerian disk jockey, Florence Otedola aka DJ Cuppy has revealed that she's a wife material.
She made the declaration on her X page while sharing a picture of herself doing laundry.
In the X caption, she wrote, “Wifey material: doing laundry and trying not to break hearts at the same time.”
The 32-year-old music star recently shared online that any man who intends to marry her must seek God first.
“God may I be so deep in you that my husband has to seek you first before he may find me,” she wrote.
DJ Cuppy is publicly known to be single at the moment.
Her most recent relationship was her failed engagement to British boxer, Ryan Taylor.
The duo parted ways in July 2023, barely seven months after their shocking engagement in November 2022.
Media
Wifey material: doing laundry and trying not to break hearts at the same time ????✨ #CuppyDat pic.twitter.com/hhAqlm2CwE
— Cuppy (@cuppymusic) November 17, 2024
Famed Australian broadcaster and former Wallabies coach Alan Jones was charged Monday with a string of alleged historical sex crimes, police said, after an investigation into the conservative radio shock jock.
The 83-year-old is a household name across Australia and for years held immense sway through his top-rating radio talk show.
In a colourful career, he has also coached the national men’s rugby team, been a speechwriter for an Australian prime minister and taught at one of the country’s most prestigious schools.
Detectives from a dedicated child abuse squad arrested Jones on Monday while executing a search warrant at his luxury Sydney Harbour apartment.
He has been charged with 24 offences against eight alleged victims spanning between 2001 and 2019, New South Wales Police said.
This included 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault against people who had been employed by Jones.
Jones has strenuously denied prior allegations of indecent assault, which surfaced in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper late last year.
“We will allege that the accused knew some of them personally. Some of them professionally,” state crime commander Michael Fitzgerald told reporters.
The youngest victim was 17 years old at the time of the alleged offence, Fitzgerald said.
“I wish to commend the victims and their bravery in coming forward.
“They are fully aware, as are the investigators, that the hard work is just beginning.”
Whether as a sports coach, aspiring politician, or radio heavyweight, Jones has spent decades in the public eye.
He rose to fame while coaching the Australian rugby side in the 1980s, leading the Wallabies to a rare “grand slam” over England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.
His feats as a coach and administrator earned him a place in Australia’s Sports Hall of Fame, where he was inducted in 1989.
-‘Powerful, divisive’ –
However, Jones’ subsequent career as a radio talkback host cemented his influence in Australian public life.
At the height of his powers, politicians from both sides scrambled to stay friendly with Jones, who was right-leaning and had a hit radio show.
“Over 36 years, Alan Jones became one of the most powerful, divisive, and socially destructive voices the Australian media has ever produced,” academic Denis Muller wrote in 2021.
An Australian tribunal found that in 2005 Jones had incited hatred of Lebanese Australians, fuelling racially charged riots in Sydney.
He retired from his radio show in 2020.
Jones made several unsuccessful tilts throughout his career to win a seat in the Australian Parliament.