Category: Featured

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has held a former president of the Nigerian Senate, Bukola Saraki, in custody over allegations of theft and money laundering.

Mr Saraki, a former Kwara State governor, was detained on Saturday, sources familiar with the development said, a situation that may trigger another episode of troubles for the politician.

As senate president between 2015 and 2019, Mr Saraki spent a considerable time facing allegations of corruption and false declaration of assets. He was acquitted by the Supreme Court in June 2018.

ODUDUWA NEWS has gathered that operation of some suspected Kidnappers known to have been terrorising the people of Iwere Ile of Iwajowa Local Government, Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State foiled by men of Amotekun Corps, on Friday afternoon.

It was learnt that the suspected Kidnappers met their waterloo following a distress call received by the seurity operatives.

According to eyewitness, the kidnappers had stormed the community when residents sent distress calls to Amotekun operatives in the area.

A source revealed that immediately the Amotekun operatives got to the scene at about 3:30 p.m., they engaged the hoodlums in a gun battle, killing two, while the remaining three members of the gang escaped with bullet wounds.

It was further gathered that operatives of the Nigeria Police Force in the area later stormed the scene and took the corpses away.

As at the time of filing this report, the Oyo State Police Command has not made official statement on the incident.

Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has said that Ladipo Market, Mushin, was shut for sundry and persistent environmental infractions, which they failed to redress despite several warnings from the Authority.

The Authority, in a press release on Friday, highlighted the deplorable state of the environment within and around the market, due to flagrant acts of improper waste disposal, capable of causing disease outbreak in the area.

LAWMA said the market would remain shut until the traders turned a new leaf, by adhering to the environmental laws of the state, put in place to protect the environment and residents.

It appealed to other markets and business centers in Lagos to shun indiscriminate dumping of refuse and other related environmental offences, noting that the Authority would leave no stone unturned in making sure defaulters are adequately penalised, to serve as deterrent to others.

The Authority urged traders in markets across the state, as well as other residents, to support LAWMA in its efforts to rid the environment of waste pollution, adding that people should patronise assigned PSP operators and pay their waste bills promptly.

For inquiries on waste management related issues in your area, please call LAWMA toll-free numbers: 07080601020 and 617 (for GLO users).

The attention of Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has been drawn to an unfortunate incident, which occurred early Thursday morning, at exactly 7.45 a.m, in which a motorist knocked down one of our sweepers, who regrettably died, while another sustained serious injuries and was rushed to the hospital.

The Authority is deeply saddened by the unfortunate incident and commiserates with the family and loved ones of the deceased sweeper. We pray that God gives them the fortitude to bear the irreparable and sad loss, while praying that the other sweeper in the hospital, will speedily recover and may God spare her life.

The Authority would like to use this medium to admonish and appeal to motorists, to exercise maximum care while driving on our roads, pay attention to the sweepers, be conscious of their presence and give them the right of way.

The Authority will not hesitate to prosecute any driver, who willfully or otherwise, knocks down or cause bodily harm to any of our sweepers, while carrying out their legitimate duties of ensuring that our environment is kept sustainably clean, so that we all can have a healthy living.

The lives of our sweepers, who are our heroes, are most valuable to us and we will do everything humanly possible to protect and safe guard them at all times.

The motorist in question has turned himself in to a nearby Police station.

Babatunde Ogala, the counsel for embattled Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju Omiyinka, aka Baba Ijesha, has said the video footage which allegedly captured him molesting a 14-year-old girl was scripted.

Ogala, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, stated this at the Lagos State Special Offences Court on Tuesday during the cross-examination of comedienne, Damilola Adekoya, aka Princess.

Baba Ijesha is facing six counts of rape, sexual assault and abuse of a minor.

During the cross-examination, the defence team, led by Ogala and Dada Awosika, confronted Princess with a report she made at a police station accusing one of her neighbours, Damola Adekola, of sexually harassing her daughter.

Princess then stated that on two occasions, the minor was harassed by the neighbour in December 2020, but she only found out in April 2021, when Baba Ijesha’s case was at the police station.

Responding to questions asked by Ogala, Princess said, “Damola Adekola is my neighbour. I took him as a younger brother because his mom is late.

“He was arrested because he tried to harass the minor in December. He put his hands on her laps and asked her to touch his private parts. This happened around 9.30pm in my flat when I was attending a meeting at Sabo.

“On two occasions, my foster daughter was almost molested by the neighbour, but she screamed.”

She also affirmed that she did not formally report the matter to the police until April 20, 2021.

Awosika then said the defendant did not touch the minor sexually and the CCTV footage was scripted.

Awosika then said the defendant did not touch the minor sexually and the CCTV footage was scripted.

He said, “You will observe that when you see the CCTV footage being streamed, the defendant did not at any time move his hand towards any sensitive part of your daughter’s body.”

The counsel also queried why there was no audio in the footage to reveal the instructions Princess allegedly gave to her foster daughter.

The Oyo State House of Assembly has described the recent media reports claiming its accounts were frozen by the Economic Financial and Crimes Commission, EFCC, as a baseless rumour.

In a statement signed and sent to ODUDUWA NEWS by the Chairman House Committee on Information. Hon. Kazeem Olayanju, Oyo legislative arm said that neither its account nor that of any Director was frozen by the EFCC.

He charged journalists to always seek clarification of any information before publishing their contents.

Hon Olayanju emphasized that the report is not only misleading, but also discrediting the principles and values of the 9th Oyo State House of Assembly.

“Recently EFCC invited some top staff of the House over a petition on how we bought our official cars as State lawmakers. They appeared, answered all questions and all necessary documents were presented for accountability sake and that was all.

“The assembly has been running all its legislative duties in line with the laid down procedures We hold plenaries, perform oversight functions to the best of our ability ,and ultimately doing our best for the entire Oyo State. Where do will get fund to run the day to day activities if the Account of the Assembly had been frozen?

“We want to appeal to journalists and every media practitioner to be more professional and always put the ethics of the job first. They play a crucial role in our democracy and should always do it in the best interest of the people.

“The House is open, the office of the speaker is open and our lines are always available for clarification of any information just to ensure their reports are objective, balanced and factual. ” Hon Olayanju said

The Supreme Court has finally upheld the victory of the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu in the last gubernatorial election.

Akeredolu’s victory was affirmed after four of the seven justices of the Supreme Court that heard the case upheld his candidacy in the October 10, 2020 election in the state. Three other justices disagreed with the majority judgement, insisting that Akeredolu’s candidacy in that election is a nullity.

Earlier yesterday, the Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde has visited the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola.

The visitation was made known yesterday by Governor via his Facebook handle as read in part:

“This afternoon, we met with the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola. We discussed the Oyo-Iseyin Road being reconstructed by our administration. Though the contractor has mobilised to site, the federal government needs to supervise the commencement of work, as it is a Federal road.

“We also used the opportunity to follow up on our request that the Federal Government should transfer the Ojoo-Moniya Old Road to Oyo State to be integrated into our proposed new business district in Ibadan”.

The Ogun State Coordinate of All Progressives Congress Youth League has charged the newly elected 20 Local government chairmen in the state to ensure adequate youth representation in their administration.

The league urged the local council bosses to emulate Governor Dapo Abiodun’s style of leadership by making the youth Constituency a topmost priority as they begin to form their cabinet.

A release jointly signed by the league’s coordinator, Comrade Olamide Lawal and Publicity Secretary, Adewale Adeleye, pointed out that the youths in the Gateway State are tools that could be used to fast-track the desired grassroots development due to their resilience and energy.

According to the release, ” The youths in Ogun State are very hardworking. Their firmness and strength cannot be underestimated, especially as exhibited in the last Pre-Election and Electioneering exercise just concluded.”

“We believe the youths deserve above 60% inclusion in the local government administration”

The release furthered, “There is no better time for Youths to be compensated for their steadfastness than now. Their resourcefulness and dedication to the party is immeasurable”

“Many of them vied for Councillorship and Chairmanship seats but were denied by the party, yet remained and worked tirelessly for their co-aspirants. There is no better name to call this action than Partyman-ship.”

The league commended the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun for his “Building our future together” ideology which was exemplified during his Campaign tour of all Local government areas in the state.

“Indeed, Royalty and Leadership flow in his blood. He has shown genuine leadership by example and had earned more honour for himself by personally visiting all Local government areas , to see things by himself, feel people’s pulses and solicit further support in order to deliver democratic dividends appropriately” it concludes.

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has inaugurated the recently elected Local Government chairmen and councilors.

This was contained in a statement signed and released today to newsmen by the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu as read in part:

“Today, we swore-in elected Council Chairmen that will lead our Local Government and Local Council Development Areas in Lagos State with a charge to them to get down to work immediately to justify the confidence of the electorates and not to dissipate any energy fighting opponents.

“I reiterated that the administrative and financial autonomy our LGAs and LCDAs have enjoyed for the past two decade should be a catalyst to achieve bottom-up development across the State and it should not be taken for granted.

“In Lagos, we are witnessing the dawn of a new era in Local Government administration. With this election, a resounding statement has been made, once again, that our state remains firmly an APC state and that our people continue to regard our party as the most viable and most credible political choice for the most populous State and biggest subnational economy in the country.

“We consider this overwhelming support as a vote of confidence in our administration and our great party, and it will never be taken for granted.

“While I congratulate the newly elected chairmen and vice chairmen, I want to remind them that their victory is an affirmation of trust in their competence, capacity and capability to discharge the responsibility of the Office they are stepping into.

“Being the closest tier of government to the people, any gap or shortcoming in administration will be keenly felt by the people. As a result, policies and programmes must be people-oriented, focusing on how to improve the lives and livelihood of the people at the grassroots.

“I must also commend our great leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for his unflinching dedication to the party and also our State Chairman and party leadership for leading the party to victory again.

“My commendation also goes to all our people, the civic-minded people of Lagos State, who conducted themselves peacefully and responsibly, before, during and after the elections. I want to particularly thank you all for keeping faith with our great party.

“It is equally important to praise the State Independent Electoral Commission ably led by Justice Ayotunde Philips (rtd) for conducting a very credible election.

“Our administration will continue to provide the right environment for LASIEC to fulfill its constitutional mandate”.