Category: Politics

The 2023 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Senator Teslim Folarin has debunked a news report of an assassination attempt by him on Hon. Shina Peller representing Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa federal constituency.

Shina Peller in a video clip alleged that the Oyo Central senator sent hired killers to assassinate him.

Folarin, in a statement he personally signed and made available to journalists in Ibadan on Sunday, said he is not an assassin and he does not operate a death squad, therefore he could not have sent hired killers after Shina Peller or anyone.

The statement read in part:

“It is highly condemnable for Hon. Shina Peller to publicly allege that I sent hired killers after him without stating a reason why I should want to do so”.

“I want to set the record straight that I do not have any anointed aspirant for the 2023 APC Oyo North senatorial district seat but I’ll respect the decisions of the majority party members (delegates) in the district”.

“Hon. Shina Peller’s very serious allegation against my person is unacceptable and must be verified by the security agencies”.

“It is saddening that Governor Seyi Makinde is using Shina Peller to attempt a smear campaign on me and destabilize Oyo APC ahead of the 2023 elections”.

“The cordial relationship between Governor Makinde of PDP and Shina Peller of APC is public knowledge. It is an open fact that Shina Peller has been publicly and privately hobnobbing with Governor Makinde since May 2019. This is an APC lawmaker that does not only talk down his political party but also recklessly attend PDP functions within and outside Oyo State”.

“Based on intelligence report at my disposal, Shina Peller’s senatorial aspiration on the platform of APC is just a smokescreen to destabilise Oyo APC and demarket me as the governorship candidate of our great party. He is acting a script written by PDP/Makinde”

“It is very unfair that Shina Peller is being used to malign me in order to score cheap political points. He is engaging in a campaign of calumny just because he wants to deputise Governor Makinde in the 2023 elections”.

“While I am urging the public to disregard the false allegation, I urge the law enforcement agencies to immediately investigate the serious allegation against my person with a view to letting the world know what transpired between him and the people he claimed to have personally arrested. Nigerians deserve to know the truth!”

“I have zero tolerance for libel and slander. Therefore, I have instructed my legal team to take up the defamation of my character by Hon. Shina Peller”.

Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja ll, the Ooni of Ife, has described the calls for the zoning of the presidency in the 2023 elections, as “based on emotions.”

Ooni said this on Friday in a chat with ARISE TV.

There have been calls for political parties to zone their presidential tickets to the south, in what several politicians from the region have described as a move that will be in the interest of “fairness, equity and justice.”

The debate took a new twist earlier in May when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) decided to forgo zoning and throw open its presidential ticket.

Adding his voice to the debate, the Ooni urged Nigerians to focus on competence, adding that “emotion has been our problem in this country for a long time, and that is why we are not growing”.

“The call for zoning is based on emotions. Let us cut the chase and go to the factual things. Who is going to turn around this country, irrespective of emotions and sentiments? We have built our institutions on emotions and sentiment, which is unfortunate because it will not last,” he said.

“We have big problems in this country. Who is going to solve them? Let us look at it with our analytical minds other than emotions and sentiments of zoning.

“Let’s look at competence in Nigeria. Emotion has been our problem in this country for a long time, and that is why we are not growing.”

Mr Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran has just been appointed as the substantive Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Until his appointment, Mr Semiu was the Director of Demographic and Household Statistics at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The appointment has been said to take effect immediately.

Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun says while he does not have money to purchase private jets for monarchs or hard currencies to splash around for citizens, he is endowed with the capacity to transform Osun through good governance.

Oyetola, while speaking at the Palace of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, during the flag-off of his re-election campaign in Ile-Ife, said Osun was too sophisticated to be governed by kindergarten politicians seeking to experiment with Osun.

He added that because he is a man of peace and believer in the fact that politics is not do-or-die affair, he is not interested in fire-for-fire approach espoused by a certain governorship aspirant.

“I am happy that the Ooni knows that I have good intention to govern this State. I may not be able to buy private jets, but I have all it takes to fix Osun. I don’t have hard currencies to splash around and I don’t believe in fire-for-fire approach, but I am confident of victory in the next governorship election because of the modest achievements of our administration and the wide acceptance from our people in the last three-and-a-half years.

“What we have done across sectors is evident for people to see. We have proved to our people that Osun is in safe hands in view of the equitable distribution of resources that had culminated into the development that our people have been witnessing in the nooks and crannies of the state.

“As you all know, a State like Osun is too sophisticated for kindergarten politicians to govern. It is costly to allow such people experiment with Osun.

“In view of the way we have been managing the meagre resources at our disposal, coupled with the attendant challenges that we have successfully surmounted since assumption of office, it is instructive for discerning minds to know that governance is a serious task that cannot be left in the hands of mediocres,” he said.

The governor also lauded the people of Osun, particularly residents of Ile-Ife for their unflinching support, cooperation and prayers for his administration, which he said have been the foundation of the success recorded so far.

Governor Oyetola, who reeled out some of his achievements across various sectors, promised that his administration would not relent in delivering democratic dividends for all and sundry.

He attributed the decision to flag off his re-election campaign in Ife to the strong successes and victories the town had brought to his party in the past elections.

“There is no seed we plant in Ife that doesn’t sprout, this explained why we are flagging off our campaign from Ife. We appreciate the people of Ife, we do not joke with this town and we will never stop prioritising the welfare, wellbeing and overall development of Ife, and indeed the entire Osun.

“We will stop at nothing to ensure that dividends of democracy are equitably spread across the nooks and crannies of the State, just as we have spread our health and infrastructure interventions around, among many other interventions”, Oyetola added.

In his remark, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, lauded Governor Oyetola for justifying the mandate of Osun people, saying that he had done excellently well across sectors.

Oba Ogunwusi who described Oyetola as a complete gentleman, highly intelligent and calculated leader, said what has endeared him the most to the governor is his demonstrable capacity to govern Osun.

“We thank the governor for doing so much great works with less noise. Quietly but steadily, he has set the state in a progressive path.

“You are doing excellently well, and we pray God Almighty to continue to support your quest to see Osun develop. It is indeed true that your first term had brought so many goodies to citizens and we pray God to grant your desire to serve the State for second term”, Ooni said.

Also speaking, the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Otunba Iyiola Omisore, who hails from Ife charged his kinsmen to show appreciation through their votes for the many good fortunes that Oyetola has brought to Ife in particular and Osun in general.

According to him: “Ife is regarded as our source and that is why we are flagging off our Party’s campaign from Ife. If we have been trusted that much and regarded as deserving of this honour, we must not disappoint. We must show appreciation, not just for this gesture but for other good fortunes Governor Oyetola has brought to Ife.

“We assure the Governor that we are solidly behind him. We have to show that we are really the source. We have to show that Ife has become the defacto secretariat of APC.”

Earlier, the Chairman of the APC in Osun, Prince Gboyega Famodun, appreciated the people of Ife for their cooperation and support for the Oyetola-led administration. He added that Oyetola remains the best candidate that will deliver good leadership and progress for Osun.

“This is the Party and the Governor that can assure our progress. Others who are parading themselves as governorship candidates have nothing to offer the state,” Famodun said.

In his welcome address, the Senate Spokesperson and Director-General of the Osun APC Campaign Council, Senator Ajibola Basiru described the decision to flag off the campaign in Ife as symbolic and strategic.

According to him, the good works of Governor Oyetola and the prayers he has received from Ife will earn him victory in the July 16 governorship election.

Shortly after the session in the palace, Governor Oyetola headed to Enuwa Square, the venue of the campaign where he addressed the mammoth crowd of party members and supporters as well as residents of Ife.

Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, has warned those fanning the ember of ethnic and religious violence in the South-West to desist from the act.

He insisted that the South-West would resist any attempt that could trigger a crisis and disturb the peace in the region.

Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, in a statement by his Special Assistant on media, Mr. Kehinde Aderemi, condemned the murder of Miss Samuel Deborah, a 200-level Christian student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education Sokoto over alleged blasphemy.

He said, “We are in the midst of a full-blown crisis in Nigeria, and unless something urgent is done, this may lead to complete anarchy.

There are reports of how some extremists have invaded the South-West. They are everywhere perfecting their insidious plans to set the South-West on fire, but I want to state it categorically that such an attempt could only trigger violence because we will resist any act that is capable of fueling both ethics or religious war in the South-West.

“These religious fanatics have their agenda. Their plan was to cause untold and monumental havoc in the South-West region. However, we are aware of their plans and we will resist them by all means.

The incident leading to Deborah’s murder showed the callousness of the extremists. She was mobbed, assaulted, brutalised, lynched to death and heartlessly set on fire.

It was purely a complete breakdown of law and order. A radical departure from what obtains in the world in this 21st Century.

“I am appealing to the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to bring the culprits to book. None of them and their sponsors should go scot-free.”