Oduduwa News

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Sunday charged candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming local government elections to replicate the political victories of the party being witnessed across the country in the poll.

Sanwo-Olu, who stated this at the handing over of party flags to the 20 local government and 37 local council development areas chairmanship candidates ahead of the local government poll at the All Progressives Congress secretariat located in Ogba area of the state, said the party’s current successes across the country, culminating in the mass defections of political top echelons to the party showed the acceptance of the party by the people.

He said: “This is a very important and significant event, which is the official handing over of our flags to all of our candidates. We are handing over the flags to the chairmen and the vice chairmen, of course supported ably by the party’s LGA chairmen so that they all can go back and do the same with their councillors and ensure that we have a resounding victory on the 24th of July, 2021.

“They are to go forth to the various local governments and campaign in all the nooks and crannies of the state. We are believing that this significant event will signpost our seriousness in our next local government election. And we are certain that the success we’re are currently enjoying at the national and states will also be translated at the local government elections as well.’’

The governor added that the local government is a critical arm of government, saying “We have three tiers of government and everybody has their roles and responsibilities. But as a state government we will continue to ensure that our development agenda is spread across the state and because we own all the local governments we will ensure it is reflective in all local governments and that is what we are doing.

“So what we expect from them is to key into our agenda. So that when they come in, they can also hit the ground running in all of the wards that we have. We expect them to start work immediately. The state government will carry out some projects in the wards but we expect complimentary roles from these chairmen; we expect them to compliment that and do more.

“There will be quarterly monitoring of their activities. The deputy governor and Speaker have that responsibility, and we expect this to create a healthy rivalry among the councils.

“We pray that APC will come tops; we hope these candidates will do well and they will not disappoint the people that would vote them in.”

Earlier, the party’s Caretaker Chairman in Lagos State Honourable Babatunde Balogun said the party is optimistic of sweeping the local government poll in the state.

Balogun said the ruling party led by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the state has endeared the party to the electorate through massive infrastructure development and provision of basic amenities to the residents of the state, saying the party expects the electorate to reciprocate the gestures with votes.

“We expect all of you to be victorious in the next six days with the support of the Lagos electorates by the grace of God.”

The Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon Adebo Ogundoyin says Nigeria’s present predicament is a test from Allah and it will soon end in joy and happiness.

The Speaker who stated this in his 2021 Eid-el-Kabir message said just as Allah surprised Prophet Ibrahim on the Mount of Arafat by replacing his son Ismail with a ram, Nigeria will soon be rid of its many challenges and it will be a success story at last.

He therefore urged Nigerians to continue to demonstrate strong faith and engage in more devotional and sacrificial acts saying Allah has promised ease after hardship and succor after tribulations.

“The story behind Eid-el-Kabir festival was one that demonstrated total obedience and submission to Allah. Prophet Ibrahim had already blindfolded his son Ismail and was already moving the knife up and down his neck but Allah replaced Ismail with a ram and his son was unharmed. I am sure another opportunity has presented itself for all of us in Nigeria to use this year’s Eid-el-Kabir to renew our faith in Allah. We should never lose hope in the sincere believe that all will be well with our nation soon. Prophet Ibrahim laughed and rejoiced at the end of his trial , we shall also live to see a better and more prosperous Nigeria which will be devoid of all the present crises. ” Oyo Speaker prayed.

According to him, Nigerians should imbibe other significant lessons of Ileya festival like having and demonstrating strong piety and the act of sharing and caring for the needy.

“We should learn to extend love to ourselves all the time. During Eid-el-Kabir, meat and food are shared among ourselves and most importantly among the poor people. This will no doubt promote love, togetherness and peace amongst us. Let us remember that our meat and food do not get to Allah but our piety . We should constantly support the needy and the downtrodden amongst us so as to make life easier and meaningful for them too. ” Hon Ogundoyin counselled.

While calling on Islamic faithful and indeed all Nigerians to use this festival to pray for an end to insecurity across the Country, the Speaker said the situation is more worrisome now than before.

He used the medium to specially felicitate the people of Oyo State as well as the teeming Muslims in Ibarapaland on this year’s Ileya festival, and prayed to Allah to accept the sacrifice and the prayers of the entire Islamic faithful.

” Our people in Oyo State are already experiencing new lease of life. Special thanks to the people friendly policies of Governor Seyi Makinde. I want to urge the residents of the State to increase their prayers for this administration so that more developmental strides will be achieved. ” He added.

The APC gubernatorial aspirant in 2019 General Election and 2023 Oyo South Senatorial hopeful, Dr. Sola Ayandele (Eruobodo) has rejoiced with Muslim faithfuls over the celebration of Eid-il-Kabir.

In a statement personally signed by him and made available to ODUDUWA NEWS today, he expressed his joy over the festive period. “It’s my utmost joy to celebrate Ileya festival with my people, most importantly Muslim brothers and sisters across the globe and Oyo South in particular. The celebration is a sign of love of Allah and the lesson learnt from Prophet Ibrahim (A.S.W).

While expressing his view on the essence of Eid-El Kabir, he said, “The festival is to remind us that, in our service to Allah, we will face trials and tribulations. It is then up to us to decide whether or not we will triumph over whatever trials Allah puts before us. When we face a series of trials, it is not to weigh us down or make us renounce our faith. Rather, it is to build us ahead of temptations that the Devil may bring our way. I therefore enjoin my Muslim brothers and sisters to put the lesson of this period into practice.”

Dr Ayandele further admonished party members to remain focused and united as they prepare towards the upcoming Congress. “Congress should unite us because a divided house will hardly achieve something tangible. Our focus is development and we must all strive for it,” he said.

While concluding the message, he reiterated his commitment towards adequate and proper representation as consultations for his aspiration continue.

Barka De Sallah!

The members of Oyo State House of Assembly have come out to break silence on the report by one online newspaper in Oyo State that they held secret Plenary to hurriedly and secretly approve N100bn for the executive arm of government.

The members said they did not have skeleton in their cupboard and as such it had no hiding agenda when it called an emergency meeting on Friday to re-approve N100billion loan request by Governor Seyi Makinde.

The rejoinder came on the eve of insinuations making the rounds on the social media that the lawmakers had approved another loan request at a secret plenary which was attended by only 13 members on Friday.

The Chairman House Committe on Information, Hon. Kazeem Olayanju while denouncing the report claiming that 13 out of 33 members were present at the Plenary to hurriedly and secretly approve the loan for the executive arm, said contrary to claims, 23 out of the 33 members of the Assembly were in attendance at the emergency plenary.

He further added that all the lawmakers were duly informed of the plenary but that due to the fact that the House do not usually sit on Fridays, many of the members had travelled out of Ibadan but took permission not to attend the emergency plenary when they were informed on Friday.

Explaining the rationale behind the decision of the House leadership to hold the emergency plenary, Olayanju said the house had adjourned till July 27, and the time would be too late for the urgency required of the re-approval.

He said, an earlier N100billion loan request approved for the Governor to be accessed from the Central Bank of Nigeria could not meet up last year due to delay in tidying up the processes but that the effort of the Governor and his relationship with the CBN authorities made the window to be re-opened.

He added that, if the lawmakers will have to wait until the July 27 adjourned date, the opportunity would be lost again which made the option of an emergency plenary inevitable.

Olayanju said “Sometimes, towards the end of last year, there was a loan request sent to the House for approval. It was a N100billion loan from the CBN.

“We approved the bill but was not granted by the CBN due to time lapse.

“Since then, the governor has been mounting pressure on them. And with his rapport and pleading with the CBN, they gave him another opportunity to access it and we had to re-approve the request so that they would continue with the processing.

“So, it was the same loan request earlier approved but which we could not meet up with the timeline to access. It was the same one we revisited and re-approved.

“As soon as we got the information from the governor that a new window has been opened for the state to re-apply for the loan, we had to call for an emergency plenary.

“But, because we don’t usually sit on Fridays, many of our members had travelled out of Ibadan. So, the information was passed to all members on the WhatsApp platform, many of them took excuse that they had travelled. Some who were around also could not meet up with the timing due to their earlier schedules.

“Those available came and there was no hidden agenda and it was not a secret meeting. All the members were aware and even those that attended were not prepared to be at plenary but for the exigency.

“The members in attendance formed a quorum that legitimises the decisions. Twenty-three out of 32 members of the Assembly made the emergency plenary. We started the plenary around 1:30PM on Friday.

“We wanted to avoid what happened sometimes ago that our processes almost led to the delay in passing the bill and we had also adjourned till July 27 for all members.

“Delaying the passage till that time could again caused the state losing the opportunity that was why we surmounted an emergency meeting.”

Speaking on what the loan is meant to be used for, the Assembly spokesman said “The governor is getting the money for five major purposes including: upgrading of alakia airport, fixing the Oyo-Ogbomosho road, Ibadan circular road, dry port at Moniya and upgrading of three hospitals across the state to international standard.”