The governor of Oyo State, Makinde, has delegated authority to his deputy, Bayo Lawal, to serve in that capacity until he returns from a month-long vacation.
Lawyer-turned-politician who just replaced Raufu Olaniyan’s place will serve as acting governor from today until the governor’s one-month vacation concludes on September 2, 2022.
The Justice Ministry, the Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency, OYSTROMA, and the Oyo State Housing Corporation, where Lawal previously served as chairman, have all been assigned to him, unlike Olaniyan.
This was not the case in the more than three years Olaniyan served with Makinde.
It was learnt that, Makinde had informed the House of Assembly via a letter to intimate them of the development.
A source in the Assembly confirmed the development, adding however that the letter was delivered to the office of the Speaker and Clerk around 4:30PM.
The source said “The governor is going on vacation from August 11 to 2nd September.
“The Deputy Governor, Chief Bayo Lawal will be Acting Governor during the period.”
When contacted for information, the House Committee Chairman on Information, Kazeem Olayanju said he could not confirm the development.
However, a source who confirmed the letter in the House said the letter will be presented during the next plenary.
The source could neither confirm if the House would call an emergency plenary to present the letter or wait till next week when plenary is expected to hold.
However, it was gathered that with the notification of the lawmakers through the letter, the Governor has fulfilled the requirements to make Lawal serve as Acting Governor pending his return.
Since the current political dispensation, it is the first time a governor of the state will be going on a vacation and transmitting power to the deputy to serve as Acting Governor.
Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has condemned the incursion of religion into the political arena of the country, adding that it portends danger for the polity ahead of the 2023 general election.
Governor Akeredolu, who stressed that the solution to the challenges faced in the country will not be found in the faiths of individuals, noted that a person’s religious persuasion is based on personal conviction.
The Governor spoke on Wednesday at the 1st year Monograph of Memorial Lecture and Celebration of Life of Professor Bankole Olusiji Oke, held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
Arakunrin Akeredolu delivered the Lecture titled “Nigeria: The Politics Of Religion In A Transitional Society.”
While pointing out that the public space must remain secular, the Governor noted that the current agitations for a faith-based political representation are anchored on certain misapprehension of the requirements for leadership in a multi-ethnic state such as Nigeria.
He stressed that the incursion of religious agitation is driven by mischief to set the people against themselves to attain political power, adding that any religious leader who ignores knowledge and competence as necessary criteria for measuring leadership capacity is an apostate.
The Governor, who warned that the earlier the people stop the dangerous and divisive faith-based campaign the better for country, added that any war fought to establish the supremacy of a faith over others can only end in tears.
“The manipulative skills of politicians as being currently put to use will aggravate an already bad situation.” He said.
Governor Akeredolu explained that the clamour for the restructuring of the polity and agitation for power shift must gain prominence over the debate on representation based on religion.
“The military handed over power, eventually, in 1999 and there has been civil rule since that time. Nigerians celebrate the fact that the democratic experience remains unbroken ever since. There appears to be an understanding that power must rotate between the North and the South.
“This understanding witnessed the contest of two candidates from the Southwest for the Presidency. It was part of the unwritten agreement that the power equation must be balanced to allay the fear of domination harboured by the people of the South.
“There is a conscious attempt not to disrupt the extant agreement. There has been a seamless transition from one civilian regime to another since 1999, the longest in the political history of the country.
“The current political permutations raise strong suspicions about an undeclared motive to thwart the arrangement that has been working for the country. The rotation of the office of the President has always been between the North and the South since the inception of the Fourth Republic.
“The attempt to disrupt the process of democratic transition using all manner of subterfuge heralds forebodings of unpleasant consequences.
“But beyond the agitation for power shift is the quest for economic independence of the states under the current political arrangement. The clamour for the restructuring of the polity should gain currency more than the unprofitable noises made for representation based on religion.
“Those who overheat the polity for personal aggrandizement should lend their voices to the issue of resource generation and control by the federating units.
“As the country prepares for another transition in 2023, it is only reasonable to expect that the arrangement, which has engendered peace for almost two decades, subsists for the benefit of all. Any attempt to change this design to assuage personal ambition can only worsen the already bad situation.
“Our people must reject any overweening cravings which may impact negatively on the polity. The current noises made on the need to have people occupy offices on the basis of religion is not only dangerous, but, annoyingly, does not portray politicians as those who are interested in public good.
“Religion has always been a weapon of manipulation in a transitional society. Religious leaders rely on the gullibility of their followers to participate, actively, in politics, while presenting a façade of spirituality. A country in the process of evolution cannot afford to be distracted by the business of religion.
“Granted that it is expected of political gladiators to magnify even the most irrelevant of issues to score cheap political points, it is profitable for the leaders of thought, especially religious leaders, to act decently. The contestation for a political office and fight for relevance must not be used as an excuse to mislead the people.
“Most reasonable people will question the economic logic which propels a country, purportedly practicing Federalism, to run a monolithic economy. Let all those who agitate for representation do so on the basis of economic participation first. This should be the fundamental consideration.
“The warped mentality which predisposes the elites, both the clergy and political, to always indulge in permutation on the expectation of largesse sharing is deplorable.”He said.
The Governor also described the controversy trailing the recent choice of the presidential candidate of the ruling APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Muslim, to pick Senator Kashim Ibrahim Shettima, another Muslim, as his Vice-Presidential candidate, as most regrettable.
“This choice has generated needless controversies. Those who spearhead this apparent mischief either ignore or are oblivious of the fact that the position of the Vice President, as provided in the 1999 Constitution, as amended, is innocuous. The occupier of that office can only act as directed by the President who wields the real executive power.
“It appears that these protests are symptomatic of the level of distrust among the members of the political class who will do anything to grab power. The brazen incursion of religion into the political arena portends danger for the polity. Quality representation had absolutely nothing to do with the belief of a political office holder.
“The leadership of the two popular religions, Christianity and Islam, must avoid making inflammatory statements capable of causing chaos in the polity. This is the time all patriotic citizens must speak with one voice on the need for economic emancipation of the regions. We must begin to seek ways to remove the odious shackles of dependence which has almost run the whole country aground.
“We should all condemn and seek to end a system which promotes indolence. We must encourage all parts of the country to contribute to the economic development. We should all tap into our respective areas of comparative advantage as it was in the First Republic.
“And, consequently, we cannot afford to make the mistake of electing our leaders on mendacious and sentimental premises. Just as no reasonable person will choose to be driven by a driver on account of ethnicity and religion, only the competent aspirants with manifest capacity should be considered.
“A heterogenous society must have its affairs controlled by knowledgeable leaders with proven records of public service. Motivational speeches and copious quotes from the Holy writs can only inspire. The job of the President of a country in distress requires capacity, forthrightness and courage.” He concluded.
Richard Olatunde Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Ondo State. August 10, 2022.
Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde has done a minor reshuffling of his cabinet, assigning new portfolios to two Commissioners.
The reshuffling was announced at the Executive Council meeting at the Executive Chamber of the Governor’s Office, in Ibadan.
A statement by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatubosun indicated that the Governor directed Barrister Olasunkanmi Olaleye to henceforth head the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, while Hon. Bayo Lawal will be in charge of the Ministry of Trades, Industry, Investment and Cooperatives.
The Ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has called on the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Alkali Baba Usman, to as a matter of urgency call the Senator representing Oyo Central Senatorial District, Teslim Oloye Teslim Kolawole Folarin to order before he turns the state into another field of political crisis.
This was as the ruling party also carpeted the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, over what was described as raising false alarm with its press release two days ago, Oyo state PDP said the opposition party is now synonymous to Folarin’s hooliganism and rascality.
It would be recalled that the opposition party had in its press release alleged that the state Governor, Seyi Makinde and the Chairman of the state Park Management System (PMS), Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi were to be held responsible should anything happen to Folarin.
The ruling party in a press statement by its State Publicity Secretary, Akeem Olatunji today, said it was rather unfortunate that Folarin, who has continued to bring the office of a Senator of the Federal Republic to serious ridicule by his gutter politics and has continued unrestrained in his self imposed hallucinations. The ruling party said, “Folarin is being chased and tormented by his own shadows and that is gradually taking a toll on his mental health.
“Folarin who was allegedly involved and arraigned for being involved in the gruesome murder of late Eleweomo who was until his death the leader of the now proscribed National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), opened his mouth to threaten a sitting governor, Seyi Makinde, during the preparation for local government election saying that he had set three traps that Makinde could not escape from.
“If Folarin and his likes deliberately decide to feign forgetfulness, the people of Oyo state do not, It is on record how members of the APC in the state with the full backing of Folarin and his cohorts attempted to forcefully occupy local government secretariats across the state in a bid to provoke a reaction from the PDP members but failed because sheep’s can not go into the swamp because of an aggression from a swine of pigs.
“It is also on record how Folarin’s thugs; Hamidu Were, Afeez Ejeoto, Tiri Olowoposi and others laid ambush for Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi sometime not too long ago in Ibadan with the sole motive to assassinate the PMS boss like he allegedly did to Eleweomo but failed.
“We have on good authority how Folarin and his cohorts are recruiting and raring political thugs and hoodlums especially in Ibadan, the state capital all in his desperation to become governor and we’re not oblivious of the fact that he may start springing up surprises in form of attacks on popular individuals not on the same political page with him just as he is notable for and then raise false alarm as a diversionary measure to sway suspicion against him.
“We want to use this medium to call on the Oyo state Commissioner of Police, CP Adebowale Williams, and the IGP, Alhaji Alkali Baba Usman to immediately bim security searchlights on Folarin in order to prevent his desperation from raring its ugly head as it allegedly did with the late Eleweomo.
“It is on record that Honourable Shina Pella, a member of the House of Representatives who has since parted ways with Folarin and his faction of APC recently raised an alarm over a failed assassination attempt on his life by Folarin’s political thugs but for prompt and swift response of the police the case would have been a sad one by now.
“For the sake of emphasis, we want to state unequivocally clear that absolutely nothing untowards must happen to the PDP Governorship candidate, Governor Seyi Makinde, or any of the state government officials under this present government including Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi as our party will not hesitate to deploy every means within the confines of the law to fight Folarin and his APC.
“It is even more worrisome that Folarin’s desperation has blindfolded him so much that he is yet to mention to the good people of Oyo state what he and his party have to offer the state after leaving the people with sheer terror, unpaid salaries, pension and gratuities for many months leading to untimely deaths and paralysis of many, humongous debt burden, and other unforgettable atrocities under APC between 2011 and 2019.
“Folarin is not the only individual to contest the next Governorship election but his unrrstrained desperation has made him a serious element of security threat to not just the good people of Oyo state but other participating contestants at the coming election therefore, the Oyo Commissioner of Police and IGP are enjoined to give this call all the needed attention it deserves before the Senator return us to the Eleweomo era.
“The Oyo state PDP has continued to tolerate the excesses, rascality, and recklessness and political brigandage of Folarin and his faction of Oyo APC because we believe two wrongs can not make make a right but this level of civil disposition to politics should not be mistaken for weakness.
“We understand that Folarin’s poor public image has compelled him and his APC to resort to smear campaign and all forms of vituperations against Makinde and PDP even at the slightest bite from a mosquito but we urge them to be decorous and not throw caution into the wind in trying to seek for public attention using Makinde’s soaring public image as their ladder to climb to the top because the people of Oyo state are now wiser and now know better between false propaganda and a genuine leader.” The party stated.
Oyo security will be worsen if Makinde is re-elected in 2023, according to the Oyo State branch of the All Progressives Congress, security in the state will be completely out of control.
The party made this claim in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan on Monday and released by the State Secretary, Alhaji Tajudeen Olanite.
The governor was accused by the opposition party of utilizing state resources to support thugs who have been implicated in the murder of certain state residents.
He added that Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi, fondly called ‘Auxiliary’, who was appointed in February 2020 by Makinde as the chairman of the disciplinary committee for the Park Management System of the Oyo State Government, issued the threat to Folarin’s life in a viral video and the governor was silent on it.
According to the party, the threat to Folarin’s life by Auxiliary has become a matter of public knowledge via video clips that have gone viral on the social media space within the past few days.
The statement read in part, “Governor Seyi Makinde does not deserve a second term in office. During this outgoing first term of his, he has made our dear state retrogress in terms of thuggery and hooliganism, which the immediate past governor, the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, tamed effectively for eight years.
“Apart from the threat to the life of the Distinguished Senator Folarin, the same Mukaila Auxiliary and scores of his thugs have clamped down on the billboards and posters of the opposition parties, especially the leading opposition party in the state.
“Auxiliary has been leading heavily armed thugs to destroy APC billboards and posters in different parts of Ibadan and the state.
“The billboard destruction by Auxiliary and his thugs, engaged by the PDP government in Oyo State is tagged: ‘Operation Destroy APC Billboard and Posters’. They have also started the destruction of shops at Dugbe Alawo and Ogunpa, being operated by people they believed are not favorably disposed to the second-term bid of Governor Makinde.
“It is an attempt to silence opposition and turn Oyo into a one-party state. The PDP-led administration is very intolerant of opposition in the state because they know that they have failed woefully, and they don’t have any good thing to offer the good people of the state.
“But we have a mandate to rescue the state from the hands of these clueless, distracted, promise-breaking rookies in governance and promoters of thuggery fellows. We shall not be deterred by their antics. We shall ensure the liberation of the good people of this state from the claws of these political hawks that have been reported to be in government to steal, kill and destroy.”
Defence Headquarters has arrested those behind St. Francis Catholic Church attack at Owo Ondo State.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Irabor disclosed this during a parley with executives and Media organisation editors in Nigeria on Tuesday.
Recall that gunmen stormed St. Francis Catholic church on June 5, opened fire on the congregation and also detonated explosives as the worshipers run for their lives
A pastor, Mr Gbenga Obaleye has revealed that about 20 persons were kidnapped early this morning by bandits around Kara area between Lagos and Ogun State.
In a post on his Facebook page, Obaleye urged the police and other security agencies to do something urgent, saying he could not believe that the criminal elements were now operating everywhere.
According to him, “This is not spoiling any tribe, my members in my church were coming from camp this morning at 5:30am, the fulanis came out from the KARA where they use to sell cows, 20 people have been taken into the bush, that little bush, my members left the car and ran back, shooting, they came back all money, laptop ATM have been taken, the phone they stole we used now to locate where they are as at 7am, pls police in Ogun axis pls help us not to disturb people in that area, truly they are all over I can’t believe this.”
In another post, Obaleye said he was sure that the bandits were targeting members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) returning from the Redemption Camp along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
“Kara is dangerous now when you are coming from Camp, the fulanis almost kidnapped members of my church 30mins ago, am sure they are targeting people coming from camp,” Obaleye said.
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has dissociated himself from a video showing some members of the National Association of Seadogs, popularly known as the Pyrates Confraternity, mocking the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 election, Bola Tinubu.
In the video, members of the Confraternity during a procession gyrated to an anti-Tinubu song and poked fun at the former Lagos State governor for a speech he made in June in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where he asked that power should be handed over to him.
The members of the Pyrates Confraternity sang, “Hand dey shake, leg dey shake, Baba wey no well, e de shout emi lo kan (Hands are shaking, legs are shaking. A sick old man is shouting ‘it’s my turn’). “Emi lo kan (2ce), Baba wey no well, him dey shout emi lokan (It’s my turn (2ce), a sick old man is shouting ‘it’s my turn’”. Tinubu, who seemed desperate during the speech, said, ‘Emi lo kan’, meaning ‘It’s my turn’.
Tinubu narrated how he consoled President Muhammadu Buhari after he had failed three times to become Nigeria’s President. Eventually, a political alliance spearheaded by Tinubu ensured Buhari won the presidential election in 2015.
However, Soyinka who founded Pyrates Confraternity as a university student in Ibadan, Nigeria, described making a mockery of Tinubu due to his ill-health as distasteful.
He said, “My attention has been drawn to a video clip making internet rounds, of a dancing and chanting group, in red and white costume, purportedly members of the Pyrates Confraternity.
“The display acidly targets a presidential candidate in the awaited 2023 elections. Since the whole world knows of my connection with that fraternity, it is essential that I state in clear, unambiguous terms, that I am not involved in that public performance, nor in any way associated with the sentiments expressed in the songs. Like any other civic group, the Pyrates Confraternity is entitled to its freedom of expression, individually or collectively.
Wife of the Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church, LFC, Worldwide, Pastor Faith Oyedepo, has urged winners to obedient in the affairs of the Kingdom (of God).
On his part, the husband, Bishop David Oyedepo, said obedience is better than sacrifice.
The couple spoke at the church’s monthly leadership conference.
The declarations were yesterday, interpreted as a subtle endorsement of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party for the 2023 general elections, Mr Peter Obi.
Obi’s supporters have been campaigning under the alias ‘Obi-dients’.
The candidate himself visited the Oyedepos at the Ota-based church after which photos from the visit went viral as supporters lavishly shared them on social media.
Oyedepo’s wife, while citing Isaiah 1:19-20, stressed the need for Christians to be obedient to spiritual instructions to enjoy the good of the land.
Her words: “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” (Isa. 1:19-20).
She urged the church to pray for God’s Spirit to serve and be obedient.
In his own sermon, Bishop Oyedepo, while unravelling the mystery of the covenant of obedience, said: “To be obedient is better than sacrifice. Obedience may be costly but the end result is always priceless.
“When you live your life as a seed, its impact lives for generations after you”
Chief Sunday Adeyemo, also known as “Sunday Igboho,” the Yoruba Nation freedom fighter, has lamented the ongoing killings and high level of insecurity in the nation under the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, claiming that peace will continue to elude the country until Yoruba secede.
The Yoruba are not for Nigeria, he said, urging all Yoruba sons and daughters to consider creating their own independent country and reclaiming their rights.
In light of recent disturbances, Igboho, made this disclosure in a statement made available to ODUDUWA NEWS through his spokesperson Mr. Olayomi Koiki, pledged to continue educating the populace, particularly the Yorubas, about the 1914 union that was imposed on 371 ethnic groups in what is now known as Nigeria.
He said: “We don’t think anyone should talk about election with the insecurity in Yorubaland and the fake 1999 constitution. Yoruba should think of having our own independent nation and reclaim back our rights.
“We won’t force anyone that wants election just as we did not during the Osun and Ekiti. But we would continue to educate our people about the union of 1914 amalgamation that was forced on 371 ethic groups in what’s call Nigeria today.
“Chief remains in high spirit and he continues toa agitate for a peaceful exit of the Yoruba people from Nigeria. Whatever Chief Said is now happening in Yoruba land.
“With the situations of things Nigeria can’t have peace. Why? We don’t have union and unity because we are all different.”
“Having a Yoruba nation is priority and won’t take the right of other indigenous people that want to live on our land so far our constitution is respected.”
“And I want to state again, Yoruba nation awareness campaign is coming soon again. We also looking forward to the next United Nations General Assembly for the next protest”
“Five million petitions have been completed. Our campaign remains peaceful according to the United Nations rights of the indigenous people,” he explained.
