The Lagos State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde has vowed to ensure that justice is served for the late Lagos-based lawyer, Bolanle Raheem who was murdered by a trigger-happy policeman in Ajah.
This was contained in a statement made available today by the governor via his official Twitter account as read in part:
“”With utter shock and sadness, I received the news of the mindless shooting of a citizen by a police officer whose primary job function was to protect the same citizen.
“I hereby sympathize with the family, friends and associates of late Bolanle Raheem. I am therefore assuring everyone of the State Government’s full support and cooperation with the police authorities in their investigation to unravel the remote and immediate cause of the shooting, that led to Bolanle’s untimely death, with a view to ensuring that justice is served.
I”I have studied preliminary reports on the matter and have instructed the appropriate Government officers to immediately get on it. We must ensure a speedy justice for the late Bolanle. Our Government cannot sit back and watch our citizens killed by the same law enforcers that should ordinarily protect them.
“I’m aware that the Lagos State police command have arrested, disarmed and detained the police officers involved in the shooting incident. I can assure you that the accused persons will have their day in Court and nothing will be spared under the Laws of Lagos State until justice is served adequately. We will ensure that it is done speedily because justice delayed is justice denied.
“I would also appeal to residents to remain calm and not take the law into their hands on the matter, the State Government will live up to her responsibilities and get justice for the late Bolanle Raheem”.
A renowned politician and elder statesman in Nigeria, Chief. Abiola Ogundokun has advised the Governor of Osun State, Sen. Ademola Adeleke to face governance squarely as it is too early to be distracted.
The Iwo Born politician made this statement during a programme he organised in his hometown where he distributed foodstuffs and financial support to the less privileged.
The veteran journalist questions the Governor, saying it will be strange for the Governor to say he doesn’t know the state is indebted while he was campaigning to be the Governor. He went further to state that all new administration over the world inherits assets and liabilities when they assume power as government is a continuum and therefore advises Governor Adeleke to be focused on providing good governance as time is counting.
Addressing the jubilant crowd, Chief Ogundokun challenged the Governor to publish the details of the acclaimed N18 billion Former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola allegedly borrowed after the July 16 Governorship election. He assured everyone that the APC defeat in the last Governorship election that was allegedly rigged was just a temporary setback as Adegboyega Oyetola will reclaim back his mandate through the judicial process. On that note, he advised APC supporters to remain steadfast, committed and loyal to the party.
Also in his remarks, Chief Ogundokun urges the elated crowd and party stalwart present to redouble their efforts and ensure that all APC candidates emerge victorious in the 2023 General Election. He urges the youths to shun violence and not allow themselves to be used as instrument of destruction by desperate politicians.
He assures the needy and masses present that the food and financial support program that he has been running on quarterly basis since 1976 will continue as long as he lives on the surface earth and therefore tell them that they can count on him not to leave them forsaken.
Present at the program includes the APC Senatorial candidate for Osun West; Dr. Hamidu Tadese, Alh. Omobola Yusuff, Alh. Fatai Abubakr among others.
In his own address, the APC Senatorial hopeful, Dr. Hamidu Tadese thanked the masses for their loyalty and support, imploring them to remain steadfast and ensure a total victory for APC candidates from Top to Bottom in the 2023 General Elections.
The trigger-happy policeman that shot a female lawyer in Ajah, Lagos has been finally identified as ASP Ayuba, of Ajiwe Police Station, Ajah.
The Police officer who murdered the pregnant lawyer, Mrs. Bolanle Raheem, on Christmas day while the victim was returning from Church with her husband confirmed to have been arrested.
Mrs. Omobolanle Raheem is a member of the Lagos Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
It was gathered that the family was on its way back from church when the incident happened under the Ajah bridge and near the police station.
The alleged killer cop and his other two accomplices who were members of his team have been arrested.
It was learnt that the policemen were allegedly extorting motorists on the highway and had asked Raheem’s husband, who was driving to park their vehicle.
“The officer asked them to park and they needed the vehicle in front to move so they can park well, and immediately the police officer shot at a close range right into her chest.
“On seeing what happened, the remaining police officers on duty there absconded.
“After a while, some policemen came and moved her body to the mortuary in Yaba, without obtaining any consent from her family members.
Confirming the incident, spokesman for the command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, described the incident ad unfortunate and avoidable.
He confirmed that the alleged shooter and two other of his team members were in detention and would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba, for further action.
“Unfortunate and avoidable incident that was. The ASP that shot and two others with him have since been taken into custody.
“They are to be moved to the SCID for further investigation,” he said.
The grieving man that is holding his head with his two hands in the photo is the husband of the deceased lawyer. He could barely utter a word while we were in his house.
This is how terrible our country has become. The police that is supposed to protect citizens is killing Nigerians with impunity.
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has declared that there is no law in Osun state which empowers a Governor or his appointees to Bolt away with government vehicles, challenging ex-governor Oyetola’s team to cite the name and date of enactment of the supposed fake law.
Reacting to questions from journalists at Osogbo, the Spokesperson to the Governor, Mallam Olawale Rasheed said “what the law provides is possibility of auctioning of public properties if need arises for such, submitting that such an exercise must past through due process with application of auctioning regulations and procedures.
“In this case, there was no auctioning of those vehicles. No tender payment, bidding and opening exercises. Without any legal foundation, vehicles cumulatively worth about N3.5 billion were shared out. Then, the affected officials admitted and are still laughably justifying illegality bordering on criminal infraction.
“Citing of non-existing law is embarrassing to those affected and the State as a whole. How can learned people be relying on such an illegal foundation instead of immediately returning government vehicles to the pool without further delay?
“As thing stands, the only law that will apply now except the vehicles are returned, relates to criminal theft of public properties and this will be invoked in the next forty eight (48) hours.
“Past officials have admitted bolting away with government vehicles. We have detailed records of all missing vehicles and which official is holding them. The Asset Recovery Committee will launch out on re-possession and retrieval exercise in line with stipulations of the law.
“If Oyetola’s administration had done proper handover through coordinated transition, the team would have been saved the embarrassing scenario of appropriating government properties without any legal basis.
“Just as the past government misgoverned the State probably on false advice, sheer ignorance or deliberate wickedness, its officials went away with government vehicles using tradition as law and exposing themselves and their principal to criminal trial”, the Spokesperson concluded in the chat with journalists on Christmas Day
The Osun State Government on Sunday said its free train service for holiday makers during festive periods has not been cancelled.
The government also said the new administration of Senator Ademola Adeleke could not however provide the service this festive period due to certain challenges it encountered towards planning and execution of the initiative.
For the first time since year 2011, free train service sponsored by the state government for people coming to Osun State from Lagos and Ogun to celebrate Christmas and new year, was not provided.
The initiative, introduced by the administration of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola, ran throughout his tenure as governor, while his successor, Adegboyega Oyetola, also continued with it when he became governor in 2018.
The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress(APC) has described as untrue the allegation that former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and other former officials of the state carted away vehicles worth N2.9 billion.
It also described those making the allegations as comedians, who are only seeking for ways of mitigating the effect of their embarrassing outings at the Osun Election Petition Tribunal.
In a statement by the party’s Media Director, Chief Kola Olabisi, the party said, all the panels set up by the government already had their reports even before they were inaugurated.
“Take a look at the video attached, you will observe the vehicles they announce that they are looking for are already being used by the current deputy governor. Yet, they claimed they did due diligence.
“Should we continue to believe characters like that?
“How did they come about the cost? Are they using the current market value or how?
“Talking about this particular panel, have they concluded their sitting? When was their report submitted?
“We asked these questions because only two days ago, the governor was quoted to have said any of the former political appointees that wants his November salary should return the vehicle in his custody.
“Or is that also part of the recommendations of the panel?
“For clarity sake, the former governor and his deputy, by law and convention, are entitled to certain privileges and these are well documented.
Apart from those vehicles which their offices permit them to take home, they never took any other item.
“As for the commissioners and other appointees who are also statutorily entitled, the governor formally approved their used official vehicles to them as gift for their meritorious service to the state since they are not entitled to either pension or gratuity.
“It is also important to point out that this gesture is not limited to political appointees alone, as in the past, career officers had also been allowed to go home with their used vehicles as gift on retirement for serving the state meritoriously.
“This fact can be verified as administrations before that of the immediate past practised it.
“The Osun PDP-led government must, for once, be serious and should stop behaving like comedians,” the statement reads in part.
Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, on Friday, signed the State’s 2023 Appropriation Bill, christined, “Budget of Sustainable Development” into law in Saki, Oke Ogun zone of the state.
The governor, who assented to the bill at the headquarters of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development, Agency, (OYSADA), in Saki, lauded the lawmakers for timely passage of the bill.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, quoted the governor as saying that the budget would aid the completion of some projects as well as the state’s development initiatives. He added that his administration has been able to increase the state’s Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) to over N3.8 billion.
He said: “I have just signed the budget into law right here in Saki. “So, history has been made. Let me use this opportunity to thank the Speaker and other members of the Assembly for the speedy passage of the budget.
“I learnt that the lawmakers stayed very late to sign the budget yesterday( Thursday) and also that they were able to manage the House of Assembly workers, PASAN. “This is a budget of sustainable development. We know that some of the projects and the work we started must be completed in 2023. So, this is a budget that has N155,677,143,034.34 for recurrent expenditure and N154,755,366,965.64 for capital. You will notice that recurrent is slightly higher than the capital expenditure and this is because we are going into a transition period.
“In 2023, a new Assembly will come in even though I hope that majority of the current members will still be returned. “Right now, we have 27 PDP members in the State Assembly. For 2023, it will be 32/32.” The Governor stated that the state’s budget has always performed above 50 percent, since he came into office adding that the decision to sign the budget in Saki was historic.
He also said that the decision was a testimony to the fact the state’s economy is integrated across all zones. He added: “We are here in Saki in Oke-Ogun zone 2. Saki is the biggest economy around this place. Now, we can drive from Iseyin to Ogbomoso, though the road is not completely open, but we will complete it under the 2023 budget. Out of the 78km, I believe about 50km of it has already been tarred. The artwork to link everywhere remains only 10km. So, I know we have broken the back of that project, and in this 2023 budget, we have made provisions to finish that road.
“There are other additions under Omituntun 2.0 that we have anticipated what will happen, and we have made adequate provision in this budget I have just signed. “There will be solid minerals development and Tourism.
“Two days ago at the security council meeting, we were told by DSS officials that they arrested a trailer with 25 tonnes of lithium. “Yes, they are mining lithium, which is the new gold, and Oyo State is a major lithium belt. So, we have to add solid mineral development to the mix and also tourism. I said tourism because every weekend, you can hardly get a hotel room in Ibadan. If you go to the hinterland, you will see that we are truly blessed and our environment is quite scenic.
“To ensure that we operate in a safe and secure environment, the 500 newly recruited Amotekun personnel have been trained, and their deployment would begin tomorrow, 24th of December, 2022.”
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Prof Misbau Babatunde, said that the budget is an inclusive one and that the whole Oyo State has made input into it.
He said : “The budget we are signing today is an inclusive one that the whole of Oyo State has made their input into it. When we came for consultative meeting here and other zones, the people told us what they wanted the government to put in the budget. “We collated everything, and we met in Ibadan and came up with a conclusion. “We did not just allocate figures for the budget, it was a rigorous project that science, data and logic guided.
“The figure of the budget we are signing today is what will improve the welfare of the good people of Oyo State. Our budget was not performing very well when we came into government. It was 27 per cent. But now, we have been going above 50 per cent.
“We really appreciate all the support you have given to us and we promise that the budget will be adequately implemented.” Earlier in his remarks, the Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, reiterated that the budget is a product of the synergy and collaboration by all the three arms of government in the state.
The signing of the budget was witnesed by the state deputy Governor, Barrister Bayo Lawal, Commissioners, Local government chairmen, Traditional Rulers, PDP leaders, and members others.
The establishment of the College of Agriculture and Renewable Natural Resources of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso (LAUTECH) in Iseyin community has been described as liberation of the people of the community by the incumbent administration of Engr. Seyi Makinde in Oyo State.
This was said on Friday by a member of the LAUTECH’s Governing Council, who is also an indigene of Iseyin, Mrs Titilayomi Ahmadu in a statement made available to media men on the commemoration of the birthday anniversary of the State Governor.
Titilayomi who is married to Oyo township said the womenfolk in particular owe the Makinde’s government so much appreciation for making available enabling environment towards their personal development, especially with the availability of affordable education and basic healthcare services.
She said Makinde’s establishment of the LAUTECH College in Iseyin and upgrade of the former Emmanuel Alayande College of Education (EMACOED) to a university are developments that would transform the communities and their dwellers for better in the areas of commercial and manpower development.
She said with these steps, the women in the two ancient communities would have the opportunity to have university education and be useful to the society like their menfolk.
“While we are celebrating our Governor on his birthday which comes up on the 25th of December, it is pertinent to appreciate him and his government for his efforts towards emancipating the womenfolk, as reflected in his strides in the education and healthcare sectors.
“As much as the two institutions of learning in my hometown, Iseyin and Oyo which is my husband’s hometown will impact all, I wish to state that it will have positive impacts on the women than men, the young females seeking admissions in far away northern States will now be able to get admitted within a short distance to their homes in Oke-Ogun and Oyo communities, this is historical.
“It is a liberation for my people in Iseyin who have yearned for years for this opportunity to have a higher institution of their own and it is being delivered already, as an insider in the LAUTECH’s college case, I can tell you without fear that constructions are ongoing at the administrative campus along Okeho road and academic activities will begin soon.”
Mrs Ahmadu, a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Taxation is the founder of the Women’s Organization of Resources, Knowledge and Skills (W.O.R.K.S), an N.G.O which has impacted on the lives of the vulnerable women and young females in the country, called on the women in Oyo State to give their support to the second term ambition of Governor Seyi Makinde, so as to guarantee continuous growth in the State.
She wishes the governor a prosperous birthday and urges him not to relent in his effort to put Oyo State on high pedestal among other States in the country.
Oyo State stakeholders have been urged to embrace local government autonomy by members of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).
The disclosure was made by the local government employees on Thursday in Ibadan during a demonstration calling for local government autonomy.
According to information obtained, Adebo Ogundoyin, speaker of the state House of Assembly, has been receiving petitions for local government autonomy for a number of years.
Financial, administrative, and political autonomy for the local government are some of the requests.
The union pointed out that by doing this, funding from the local government would become freely available for grassroots development.
Participants in Oyo State’s National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) said, they would not hesitate in demanding for their right to be autonomous as obtainable in other states.
Ayobami Adeogun, the state’s NULGE president, addressed on behalf of his colleagues and chastised several governors for what he called theft of authority.
He insisted that Oyo State should promote local government autonomy and that the Nigerian constitution supports the establishment of three levels of government.
The Oyo State House of Assembly has today passed the 2023 Appropriation bill into law.
The third reading which was read today at the Plenary by the Chairman House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Mustapha Akeem Olawale took a careful consideration of the bill ‘clause by clause’ by the lawmakers.
Recall, Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde had on Thursday Nov 3, 2022 presented the 2023 Appropriation Bill to the state House of Assembly.
Makinde who stood before the lawmakers presented a sum of Three hundred and Ten Billion Naira (N310bn). During the presentation, Makinde said, the 2023 appropriation bill tagged “Budget of Sustainable Development” targets 83 billion Naira as internally generated revenue.
The lawmakers while deliberating on the proposed 2023 budget at the House today proposed certain amendment and concluded that the sum of One Hundred and Fifty-Four Billion, Three Hundred and Forty-Eight Million, Eight Hundred and Sixty-Six Thousand Naira, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Five Naira be changed and amended to One Hundred and Fifty-Four Billion, Seven Hundred and Fifty-Five Million, Three Hundred and Sixty-Six Thousand Naira, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Five Naira as finally amended for capital expenditure.
The House of Assembly in its own budget had its proposed capital expenditure earlier at Two Billion, Ninety Four Million, Nine Hundred and Three (N2,094,903,040) Thousand, Forty Naira but later amended and replaced with the sum of Two Billion, Five Hundred and One Million, Four Hundred and Three Thousand, Forty Naira (N2,501,403,040)
The recurrent expenditure remains unchanged and stands at One Hundred and Fifty-Five Billion, Six Hundred and Seventy-Seven Million, One Hundred and Thirty-Three Thousand Naira Only.
The 2023 appropriation bill which was jerked up by the lawmakers by Four Hundred and Six Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N406,500,000) was finally passed into law after thorough deliberation by the whole House.
The Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Debo Ogundoyin moved for the motion to adopt the appropriation bill and be read for the third time. The lawmakers unanimously voted for the passage and the 2023 appropriation bill passed into law.
