Category: Featured

The Osun Government has raised the alarm over plots by some persons to discredit its achievements in Osun by embarking on campaign of calumny against the Government and the person of the Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.

In a statement released by the Special Adviser to Gov Oyetola, Ismail Omipidan as read in part:.

“We are compelled to raise this alarm as an early warning sign of the clandestine schemes being put together by some unscrupulous elements to tarnish the image and reputation of the Governor, Government of Osun and to cause distractions.

“The public is hereby advised to ignore such stories whenever they are out, as they are nothing but outright lies aimed at creating confusion and misinforming unsuspecting public.

“Government remains committed to delivering on its campaign promises and nothing will make it abandon that responsibility*.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that there is no going back on his decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and partisan politics.

Obasanjo stated this while addressing the National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu and other stakeholders who visited him in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Saturday.

Ayu led four former governors and members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to a meeting at the Pent House residence of the former President located within his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Oke Mosan, Abeokuta.

Obasanjo and the PDP leaders went into a closed door meeting which lasted for over two hours.

Addressing the larger gathering of the PDP stakeholders after the closed door meeting, Obasanjo admitted that having governed Nigeria twice on the PDP platform, the party would continue to be part of his history.

He said “I’m no longer in partisan politics and there is nothing that can bring back. Anybody who wants my advice, I will always be there in the best interest of Nigeria.

“Whatever I do in my own life…because I became president on the platform of PDP, PDP will continue to be part of my life. Since the day I tore my PDP card, that was the day I ceased to be a member of PDP. That day I vowed not to be a member of any political party.

“I will continue to be a statesman.”

Obasanjo told Ayu that he has the problems of PDP and Nigeria on his shoulders, and prayed God give him the wisdom to carry it.

Responding, Ayu told Obasanjo that “if you leave PDP, the blood of PDP will never leave you.”

He said the party would always require his fatherly advice towards governance in Nigeria.

Obasanjo, who was twice elected president on PDP platform, renounced his membership of the party, when he fell out with ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in the buildup to the 2015 election.

After ordering the chairman of his ward to shred the card to pieces in public, Obasanjo announced that he had quit partisan politics.

For the umpteenth time, the leading governorship aspirant on the platform of the Official Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Nigeria (PDP) in Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni, has restated his commitment to a Southern successor if given the opportunity to govern the state again.

Oni, however, pleaded for the understanding of the people that only a party in power in Ekiti could make a deliberate decision to pick a southern successor and use resources to get it done.

The PDP governorship hopeful has repeatedly said that he is committed to one remaining term arrangement and a southern successor if he is picked by his party and elected by the people.

Oni had recently said on Channels Television that “the Southern agitations are in a way, right and fair.

“If I am governor, I can muster the resources of the state; I can put it behind anybody from the South and say let us try.”

But according to Oni, the superior push for a governor from the South was an option that may be limited to the party in power, because since 1999 every zone had contested the governorship seat in Ekiti.

“If I have an opportunity to be in power, of course, we can deliberately go back to the south for a successor.

“I don’t fool around; when I say things I mean them. I will push for a southern successor,” said.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Segun Oni Campaign Team, Yemi Arokodare, has asked the public to ignore rumours that Segun Oni may consider doing a second term if elected as governor.

“Chief Segun Oni served the people of Ekiti State meritoriously between 2007 and 2010, and that is why the people are yearning for his return and praying for his emergence as the PDP candidate.

“He is committed to the one more term left if given the opportunity, and he will be very deliberate about the Southern agenda.

“Segun Oni is a team player and conscientious politician; he will work with the other aspirants to win Ekiti for the PDP,” he assured.

Arokodare said the clarification had become necessary to correct falsehoods and allay fears and concerns in some quarters.

Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, a former Minister of Works on Saturday said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) needs eight years of planning including hard work of they can get close to winning Lagos State.

Ogunlewe who spoke in an interview with DAILY INDEPENDENT was reacting to the reception of the convener of the Lagos4Lagos Movement Movement and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdulazeez Adediran, aka Jandor, into the PDP at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS).

National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu; Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde; former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and five other governors on the platform of the PDP received Jandor and his supporters into the PDP on Friday

The governors in attendance are host governor, Makinde; Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike; Akwa Ibom Governor, Deacon Udom Emmanuel; his Abia State counterpart, Okezie Ikpeazu; Enugu State Governor, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; Bayelsa State and Senator Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State.

During the event, which had in attendance members of the National Working Committee of the PDP, including the Deputy National Chairman, Taofeek Arapaja, and the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, as well as former PDP Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George; former governors Peter Obi and Olusegun Mimiko, the PDP said it is ready to take over Lagos state in 2023.

Reacting to their threat, Ogunlewe a former PDP chieftain said winning an election, especially Lagos state which is firmly under APC’s control requires a lot of hard work.

He said “Some governors came to Lagos state yesterday for ‘Lagos4Lagos’ declaration and they said they will take over Lagos state in 2023. It is a tall order and a heroic statement. Atari ajanaku ni, kiise eru omode (the dismembered head of an elephant is not what a child can carry)”.

“To win an election is not by mere talking. You must walk the talk because you don’t win by mouth. You have to work very hard. Somebody is controlling 57 local councils, all the councilors, all the Road Transport unions, market women, primary and secondary school teachers and you say that you will defeat him. Where are you going to get your votes from?”

“Those are the voters that are already part of APC and so you need to work to convince them to vote for you? How many teachers does PDP have in primary and secondary schools? How many supporters do they have in the markets? How many students in the tertiary institutions who are getting scholarships and bursaries do you have?”

“My advice to PDP is that they need a minimum of eight years planning plus hard work to get near winning Lagos. They need money, structures and the ability to convince people. I said ‘convince the voters’ because the attitude of people towards elections today is not right at all. People don’t like to vote again. Where you have less than 10 percent of registered voters”.

“They only register because they need the document for one thing or the other, not necessarily because they want to vote. On the day of the election, they will sit down at home watching television or playing football on the streets. No matter how you beg them to vote, they won’t listen”.