The former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose has claimed that the the Labour Party gubernatorial candidate, Gbadebo Chinedu Rhodes Vivor cannot speak Yoruba native language and as such would find it difficult to govern Lagos State.
Fayose made the assertion in an interview with TVC Lagos.
“The Candidate of LP we understand was born in Lagos but he can’t speak Yoruba, are we going to get an interpreter for him when he’s speaking to Lagosians? No experience at all”.
“..And some people say Lagos is Cosmopolitan, can I go to the SE or SS or go to Kano or Kaduna and say because the states are Cosmopolitan and I was born there, I should be the governor? Common. Stop this. Don’t insult people’s sensibility.”
Ayo Fayose also claimed that the naira scarcity that happened before the 2023 Presidential election was a strategy by the PDP.
He stated this in an interview with TVC this morning. He also dismissed claims that he will ever join the ruling APC. He further averred that the 2027 presidential election is likely to be between the APC and LP because by then the PDP “will have been long dead.”
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, on Monday, said that there are plans by unidentified individuals to assassinate the Lagos State gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour ahead of Saturday’s election.
Mr George made the disclosure at a press conference in Lagos where he referred to the unsolved murder of a frontline politician and governorship hopeful, Funsho Williams, who was assassinated at his Ikoyi residence ahead of the 2007 elections.
Mr George said he and a group, Omo Eko Pataki, had uncovered the heinous plan to avoid a repetition of the dreadful history.
“We wish to inform Nigerians about the heinous plan to secretly eliminate the Labour Party Governorship Candidate, Mr Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour, the latest move by the Lagos occupiers, to take him out of circulation before the election on Saturday.
“It’s not a matter of party, the essence of life is to open yourself to protect others and I told you that Funsho williams is my younger brother. I was in the villa when the president then called me that I am just getting a report that they have killed Funsho Williams, they gave me a presidential plane to come down and I saw his corpse, so we don’t want a repeat,” he said. We, hereby, warn that, should anything happen to this vibrant bonafide Lagosian, who fate has thrown up to free our dear state from the stranglehold of marauders, Nigerians should know who to hold.”
Since the Labour Party in Lagos demystified president-elect Bola Tinubu’s political influence in the just concluded presidential election, Mr Rhodes-Vivour’s growing popularity has unsettled staunch supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, some of whom have reaffirmed their intention to use all necessary measures to ensure that the country’s commercial capital remains under the grip of the party.
Prominent politicians across different political parties in the Oke Ogun region of Oyo State on Tuesday met with all the royal fathers in the region where they unanimously endorsed Governor Seyi Makinde for second term.
The meeting, which was held in Saki at the palace of His Royal Majesty, Oba Surveyor Dr. Khalid Olabisi Oyeniyi Ayinla-Ado, the Okere of Saki Land, had in attendance all the Oke Ogun royal fathers, a member of the House of Representatives representing Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa federal constituency and Accord Senatorial candidate for Oyo North, Honourable Shina Peller, immediate past chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Alhaji Kunmi Mustapha, Oyo North Senatorial Chairman for New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Alhaji Tajudeen Oloyede.
Others in attendance were chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Honourable Kehinde Adetola, representatives from All Progressives Congress (APC), Ogunyinka Solomon, Sarafadeen Olaide from Labour Party (LP), Accord House of Representatives candidate for Saki West/Saki East/Atisbo federal constituency, Honourable Robert Atitlola and others.
The communiqué issued at the end of the meeting read in full:
“A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF A MEETING HELD BETWEEN THE OKE OGUN TRADITIONAL RULERS AND POLITICAL PARTIES IN OKE OGUN REGION TODAY THE 7TH MARCH, 2023.
“The meeting was held at the Palace of the Okere of Saki Land and had in attendance critical stakeholders across all political parties within the 10 local government areas of Oke Ogun. It also had in attendance all Oke Ogun Royal Fathers.
“The purpose behind the meeting was to x-ray the three major political parties in the state with the view to determine where Oke Ogun will have their interest defended and their political benefits derived.
“Therefore, after extensive deliberation, the meeting noted with interest the laudable developments and benefits accrued to Oke Ogun region from the government of Engr. Seyi Makinde which outweigh any other government in the recent past.
“Against this background, the meeting therefore unanimously agreed and adopts His Excellency, Engr. Oluseyi Makinde as their governorship candidate in Oyo State for the forthcoming election holding on March 11, 2023.
“The meeting further resolved that this novel meeting of the Oke Ogun region should be sustained for the benefits of future objectives. And that meeting should reconvene immediately after the governorship election and should be expanded to others who share the same ideology and vision for Oke Ogun above their individual political interest.”
Veteran Nollywood Actor, Ojo Arowosafe, popularly known as Fadeyi Oloro, is dead after a long sickness
His death was confirmed by close family member.
Fadeyi, who was quite popular in the 80s and 90s for his role as a herbalist in movies, especially with his trademark costume, was confirmed dead at his apartment at around 12noon today in Lagos.
Fadeyi Oloro, originally christened Ojo Arowosafe, is the old Yoruba cinema’s Deimos – the quintessence of terror in Greek mythology and one distinct thing defines his stage persona.
Fadeyi’s darkened face, sometimes made more horrific by excessive cosmetics, was perhaps a reflection of what dwelled in his ‘cinematic’ heart. Unlike the loquacious Arakangudu, Fadeyi rarely spoke; and he made no pretension to long, winding chant of incantations. All Fadeyi would not say with his mouth, he said loudly and, yes, violently through the barrel of the gun
A 16-year-old girl identified as Opeyemi Adudu, has been arrested by the Police over the death of a 52-year-old woman, Medinat Aliu, in Akure, Ondo state’s capital.
It was alleged that the suspect pushed the victim to death, following an argument at their residence located at No 107, Isolo road in Akure South local government area of Ondo state.
According to an eyewitness, “On the fateful day, the suspect who lives in a ‘face me I face you’ apartment, went to the open air bathroom to have her bath, and after she was done, she went to get water from a nearby well.
“While fetching water from the well, water from her wet body was said to be dripping into the well, which made the deceased caution her to cover her hair as she was fetching from a public well.
” When the deceased tried to ensure that the girl moved away from the well, she pushed the woman away. The woman reportedly hit her head on the floor and died instantly.”
The unfortunate incident caused a commotion, as other tenants in the house took to their heels to avoid Police matters.
Some elderly persons who could not abandon their houses later informed the Police who came to effect the arrest of the suspect. The Police later deposited the corpse of the woman at the State Hospital Mortuary.
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Abdul-Azeez Adediran aka Jandor, has all but shut down any chances of an alliance with his counterpart of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour. Proponents of the school of thought that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has overstayed its welcome as the government of the day in Nigeria’s commercial and entertainment capital have championed an alliance between both heavyweight opposition parties.
The calls grew louder in the wake of the LP’s unprecedented victory in the presidential poll, thanks to Peter Obi and running mate Datti Baba-Ahmed. However, Jandor put hopes of such a union to rest, in a live interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday. According to him, when his “project” started years ago, it was beyond a desire to become governor.
“If it’s to be governor, I could have been governor where I was coming from, but I chose this route,” he said. The entrepreneur noted that when talks of an alliance began “flying around,” the PDP tabled the matter, “even though we [Gbadebo and I] haven’t sat together to discuss it”. He added, “We came ourselves to look at the issue and say, ‘Within us, what do we want to do? Do we want to put an end to a dynasty that has held us by the jugular for over two decades? Where do we go from here?’”
According to him, the party decided to analyse every issue critically. “We now discovered that the Labour Party candidate still has a case on his candidacy which is currently at the Supreme Court, we looked at it again that the Labour Party candidate also has an issue with Section 77 of the Electoral Act, which says if you’re leaving a particular party to another one, you must have been there, at least, for one month, that is, the party register would have been with INEC 30 days before that party primary,” he said.
Explaining that the legal issue could come up in post-election litigation, he said he would rather not be “sitting on a keg of gunpowder”. Jandor added, “For us, we don’t have a problem, we would have said [to Rhodes-Vivour], ‘Go [on], let’s just take this [APC] government.’ “But knowing full well who we’re dealing with; we know the kind of character we’re dealing with, we know what can happen – there’s no point sitting on a keg of gunpowder. “So, for us, we want an alliance; we don’t have any issue with it. But we must put our best foot forward. We must make sure that we go into this election without any snag whatsoever.”
During a recent live broadcast made by a well known Kalabari chief named Alhaji Asari Mujahid Dokubo, he recounted how he met the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Alhaji Asari Mujahid Dokubo said, “I became close with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 1992. Throughout the NADECO period till he became governor of Lagos state, I was close to him. When I was in detention, he paid my children’s school fees. He also gave a house to my wife. When I came from prison, he sponsored my medical trip abroad and bought my first (1st) car for me.” He added, “Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the one who also sent me and 6 other people to Hajj then.”
Narrating further, Alhaji Asari Mujahid Dokubo said, “it was because of former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan we parted ways in 2010. When I saw that he came out to contest for the presidency, I decided to pay him back because he was with me in my hours of travails. When he even came to campaign in my state, he did well by acknowledging me. That does not mean my relationship with him is political.”
Speaking further, Alhaji Asari Mujahid Dokubo said, “there were many people who went round to make sure Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not have anything in this election. Governor Nyesom Wike, who was my enemy, stood with me for my friend during the election and it made me happy.”
Lastly, Alhaji Asari Mujahid Dokubo said, “in the past, when I went to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s house and tell them I am hungry, they feed me. Now that I was supposed to pay him back, my people, who had agreed that we should all vote for Asiwaju, said they were directed after a meeting with Amaechi to vote for either Peter Obi or Atiku Abubakar. That makes me feel very bad. I paid a price for trusting people. What happened will not have happened if I had stepped out that morning to organize the election.”
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo state has raised a fresh alarm over a case of misappropriation of a sum of N1.85 billion by the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde which was allegedly removed from the account of the 33 Local Government Councils in the state for the purchase of 66 utility vehicles but which were not supplied.
It has been alleged that the state government, through the Ministry of Local Government and Chiefttaincy Affairs, directed that two brand new Toyota Hilux vans be purchased for each of the 33 Local Government Councils with money deducted at source from the monthly allocation due to each of the councils only for the ministry officials to invite Director of Works from all the councils and cajoled them to sign for collection of vehicles which were not handed to them.
In a statement issued on Monday and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC faulted the open declaration made by Gov. Makinde that he would never support granting of autonomy to the local government council which is the third tier of government as enshrined in the Constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.
“There seems to be no end to the looting spree in the current PDP administration of Gov. Seyi Makinde as another case of misappropriation of public fund was recorded recently when Gov. Makinde reportedly asked some officials to work out a plan to further deplete the treasury of the 33 Local Government Councils. They immediately came up with a memo ordering council chairmen to key into joint purchase of two units of luxurious utility vehicles and Toyota Hilux brand was specified.
“The unit price of each vehicle was fixed at N28 million while each council was made to pay for two putting the total at N1.85 billion which was deducted from the federal allocation of the same month when the memo was transmitted. Early last week, Director of Works from each of the 33 council were invited for collection of their two brand new vehicles but nothing was handed to them after they had been made to sign relevant papers indicating the vehicles had been delivered to them in good condition. It is on this note we are calling on the relevant anti-corruption agencies to investigate the matter and all culprits to book.” APC stated.
In the same vein, Oyo APC has advised members of the Oyo State Traditional Council to disregard the promise made to them by Gov. Makinde that 10 percent of monthly council allocation would be paid to them stating it was a packaged lie “aimed at using the traditional rulers and dumping them again. The pertinent question is; how many times has Gov. Makinde released the statutory five percent deduction from local government monthly allocation to these traditional rulers in the last 45 months?
“It is an established fact that Gov. Makinde does not give these people (traditional rulers) their deserved treatment and one wonders why he could still deem it fit to offer them fake promise at this time when he needs their support for another term in office. The only thing he (Makinde) is good at is to bankroll funeral ceremonies to celebrate the transition of Obas in the state but we are of the opinion that they deserve to be treated well while alive.” Sadare added.
The news broke on the 17th January, 2022, as two people were proclaimed dead from the outbreak of Lassa Fever at the Gaa Agbaruru, a farming village at Iwere-Ile, Iwajowa local government of Oyo State.
So many were already admitted at the general hospital at Iganna, the neighboring community, where the efforts of the medical workers were already at the thinning end.
The Oyo State government, under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde, swung into action and established a committee of experts in the health, education, social and other aspects of life to restore normalcy to the affected community; this was important because of the number of cases of those already down with the fever and the panic raised afterward, which led to pupils of the only school in the village, Agbaruru, Gaa Agbaruru Community Basic School, Agbaruru, Iwere-Ile, fleeing.
Among the members of the committee set up by Engr. Seyi Makinde in January of 2022 to support the Dr. Bode Ladipo’s Ministry of Health and other intervening agencies was the Oyo State Community and Social Development Agency (OYCSDA), which was represented by its General Manager, Mr. Jelili Salau.
The purpose of the OYCSDA at the crucial moment was to bring forth infrastructural interventions to the people of the community and find further support for the dwellers to nip such outbreaks in the bud in the future.
OYCSDA swing into action immediately the tide of the contagious disease abated and constructed a standard Health Center and a motorized borehole which was to cater for the provision of portable water and avert spread of diseases through intake of contaminated river water.
The agency went further by providing psychosocial materials for the pupils of the primary school, an effort that led to the return of all the pupils that had earlier fled the community and drew many others to the school from neighboring villages.
Among the materials provided as intervention to Gaa Agbaruru Community Basic School, Agbaruru, Iwere-Ile are teaching aids, recreational facilities, exercise books, to mention but few.
According to the General Manager, OYCSDA, Mr Jelili Salau, “we are very proud today to tell you that the intervention at Agbaruru community has yielded immense results for the people of the community, for the first time, the community had a health center with a standard motorized borehole which has made access to healthcare easy to the people of the community and those in neighboring communities as well.
“The intervention, with the blessing of the Governor, also saw our agency providing psychosocial support to the Community Basic School, Agbaruru, Iwere-Ile, where our team of experts in the field gave the teachers and parents soul-lifting talks about the need to encourage the pupils are brought back to school to safeguard their futures.
“To this end, material supports were provided, among which are teaching aids, recreational facilities and exercise books, these we believe would ease the work of teachers and encourage good learning environment for the students as well.
“On our recent visit to the school has shown a prosperous development in the school as all the pupils that fled during the Lassa Fever outbreak last year have returned and others who have seen the swings and other recreational facilities that were provided have left other schools to join the school at Agbaruru.”
The Headteacher of Community Basic School, Agbaruru, Iwere-Ile, Mr Johnson Olatunde Oyeleye could not hide his joy when he spoke with the team that was at the school on inspection, as he appreciated the Seyi Makinde-led Government and OYCSDA for the intervention which he said has restored the confidence of the pupils in education.
“We thought all hopes were lost when the Lassa fever outbreak happened and our pupils were no more coming to school, I could not blame them, the parents feared for their children not to be infected, some people were reported to have died but with the intervention of the State government, the alarm was contained, today our people in the community have access to portable water and a health center.
“Our school is one of the best in the local government today because of the provision of psychosocial materials and facilities to the school, our students almost are rather to come to school during the weekend just to play among themselves with the swing and other facilities donated by the OYCSDA, we are grateful,” he said.
OYCSDA gave the support under the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) Oyo Programme 2022 Micro Project, with support from the Oyo State government, the World Bank and the Federal Government.
Alhazan Abiodun Rilwan is the Project Public Relations Officer (Project PRO), OYCSDA
The President-elect, Bola Tinubu, on Sunday visited Lagos in what could be described as a homecoming of a sort, during which he told Nigerians he would not disappoint them.
Mr Tinubu, according to a statement from his media office made available to journalists said he arrived to a tumultuous welcome at the Presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja.
The statement signed by Tunde Rahman noted that the President-elect was received among others by the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Chief of Staff Tayo Ayinde, Musiliu Obanikoro and other top functionaries in Lagos.
The train then proceeded to the Iga-Iduganran Palace where the Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Akiolu, some other traditional rulers in the state and White Cap chiefs were already waiting.
Addressing the modest crowd gathered inside the palace, Mr Tinubu, a former governor of the state, likened the primaries and election he went through to a World Cup tournament while thanking God and the people for his eventual victory.
He said his message was one of gratitude, adding, however, that he would work assiduously for Nigeria from the get-go and would not disappoint the people.
Speaking in Yoruba, he specifically thanked Oba Akiolu and other traditional rulers in the state for their prayers and support.
Mr Akiolu described the president-elect as a special breed “who is destined for leadership at the very top.”
