Nothing But Fact
It has just been confirmed to OduduwaNews that the #EndSARS protest has turned violent in Owode Area of Ogbomosho, Oyo State. It was reported also that one person had been shot by Police. Details later.
Again, the attention of the Deputy Governor and candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Agboola Ajayi has been drawn to a forged resignation letter from the Governorship Election holding today, Saturday- 10 October, 2020.
Ondo State Governor and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN and his Media hirelings will not stop at nothing to peddle fake news. The latest is a forged letter posted by a pseudo account which Leke Akeredolu, Special Media aide to the governor is behind.
This fake news being sponsored by the outgoing Governor and his cohorts. It’s not different from the earlier ones sponsored and paid for that the Zenith Labour Party’s Candidate, Agboola Ajayi is working with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Eyitayo Jegede SAN.
Nothing can be farther from the truth.
For the umpteenth time, and for the purposes of clarity and emphasis, the Deputy Governor and candidate of ZLP, Agboola Ajayi will not resign or back out from the race he’s winning ultimately.
The general public, members of our great party and most importantly the electorate should therefore disregard this latest antics of the drowning party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Rather than moving around with the false news. Governor Akeredolu should be courageous enough to accept defeat in good faith.
Comrade Allen Sowore
Media Adviser to the Deputy Governor
Hamzat Conveys State’s Position On Police Brutality
The Government of Lagos State has advised youths protesting alleged brutality by operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) – an operational outfit in the Police Force – to be civil, as they demonstrated in the State to express their grievances.
Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, on Friday, shelved official engagements and obliged the request to address aggrieved #EndSARS protesters who besieged the State House in Alausa.
As the Deputy Governor arrived at the scene, some of the demonstrators engaged in intense arguments with the Government House police guards deployed to keep the peace. The operatives did not harass any of them.
Dr. Hamzat said the demonstrators’ outrage and grievance were in order and within their rights as citizens, but the Deputy Governor advised them to eschew violence and not to be unruly as their concerns would be pushed to the police authorities for action.
Hamzat, who urged the protesters to leave the roads, said the State Government would not condone brutality and violation of citizens’ rights by security operatives, pointing out that the position of the State on the matter had already been communicated to the appropriate quarters by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The Deputy Governor said the State Government would continue to engage the police leadership and the Federal Government to address the issues raised by the citizens and bring about needed change in the police operations.
He said: “The tenet of the police operation is to protect the citizens. Security operatives don’t have the right to trample on the rights of law-abiding citizens, because of their unfamiliar looks, or because they are carrying laptops or iPhones. It is wrong for any police officer to expressly accuse or pronounce someone, irrespective of age, guilty because they have dreads or ride luxury vehicles.
“As a Government, we support evidence-based investigations and actions driven by intelligence. The procedure of arrest and prosecution must be followed through. We are equally aggrieved like every other law-abiding Nigerian. If a young man or woman who is legitimately doing his or her job is attacked or maimed by police officers for no reason, we will never support that. We condemn police brutality in whatever guise and we will continue to engage their leadership for change.”
Dr. Hamzat advised some of the demonstrators, who were chanting “dissolution of the police”, stressing that it would be counterproductive to pull down the entire operation of the police because of the infractions committed by a few bad eggs in the system.
He told the protesters that SARS was a special operational outfit in the police, adding that there were processes to be followed in calling for change in its operations.
Dr. Hamzat said: “We fully understand the reasons for your anger but this demonstration must also carried out in line with the law. If we employ violence or destruction to drive home our grievances, we will also be hurting ourselves. The protest must be orderly, so that those concerned will get the salient point of the message.
“You can’t block the road, disrupt free flow of traffic and prevent other people from embarking on their lawful duties, especially the emergency responders. As citizens, it is within your rights to express your grievances but let us exercise caution and eschew violence. The authorities have heard your voice and I hope we all leave the roads with the understanding that drastic changes will be effected.”
As the Deputy Governor left the scene at 1:15pm, the protesters continued to chant anti-police songs, calling for disbanding of SARS. But, Dr. Hamzat instructed security operatives at the scene no to harass or exchange words with any of the demonstrators.
Governor Fayemi approves supervisors, advisers for 16 LGAs
This was contained in a statement signed and released to the newsmen by Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Yinka Oyebode.
Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has approved the appointment of supervisors and advisers for the 16 local government areas, as submitted by the councils.
The new council officials include four supervisors and five advisers for each of the 16 local government councils.
The appointments take immediate effect.
The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has reacted to a statement credited to the Peoples’ Democratic Party that it has appointed the Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife as the Returning Officer in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Ondo State.
In its reaction to the stance of the PDP, INEC in a statement signed by a spokesperson of the commission, Festus Okoye, said it will not be drawn into speculations relating to the performance of its constitutional and statutory functions. It also said Mr Ogunbodede has not been appointed the returning officer of the election.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Returning Officer for the Ondo Governorship election is not from Ondo State and not from the University mentioned in the said press conference.
“While the Commission will not be drawn into speculations relating to the performance of its constitutional and statutory functions, it is imperative to set the records straight for the benefit of the people of Ondo State and the integrity of the electoral process.
“It is the sole responsibility of the Commission to appoint a Returning Officer for the Ondo Governorship election and does not share this responsibility with any individual, group or Political Party.”
Oyo state government has vowed to continue its enforcement of the State’s environmental laws to address the state of sanitation among dwellers.
Not less than twenty seven persons were apprehended on Thursday for flouting environmental laws during the weekly sanitation exercise along Bodija, Sango-Eleyele and Orogun axis of Ibadan.
The State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Dr. Abdul-Lateef Idowu Oyeleke disclosed that the State has done a lot of sensitization towards changing the poor habit of some people to their environment, an effort he said was still ongoing on the media and through regular meetings with stakeholders.
He hinted that the essence of the sensitization was to inform the public on the need to desist from violating environmental sanitation laws, adding that the government was not out to witch-hunt the people but ensuring a habitable and investor-friendly State.
The Commissioner further enjoined business owners, traders and the general public to see the prosecution of environmental sanitation offenders as a way of ensuring compliance with the law.
Speaking at a scene of enforcement, the Chairman, task force committee on Environment, ASP Francis Ojomo accompanied by the Director of Environmental Health Services and other Environmental health officers, revealed that despite all efforts of the State government in putting necessary policies towards ensuring safe, healthy and sustainable environment, some people were recalcitrant against compliance to environmental laws, as they kept displaying wares during sanitation exercise, indiscriminately dump waste on road medians, waterways and roadsides.
“The problem is not about the availability of appropriate places to dump refuse, the State gas provided those places and containers to pack waste, the problem is about people willfully flouting the laws and we are not going to stop applying the law whenever we catch such people.
“So much sensitization efforts have gone into changing attitudes for a better environment, there are many radio jingles and television playlets to achieve this and they are still ongoing, enforcement is the final level and we shall not joke with it.”
In furtherance of the Lagos State Government’s resolve to combat street trading and other environmental nuisance, operatives of the Central Business Districts have arrested 31 persons for engaging in street trading within the Lagos Island Business District.
Speaking on the operation, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Central Business Districts, Mr. Olugbenga Olarenwaju Oyerinde affirmed that the present administration is passionate about the cleanliness of the environment and has directed CBD officials to clamp down on all violators of environmental sanitation, traffic and physical planning laws in the State.
He also reiterated the determination of the State government to restore the original master plan of the Lagos Island Business Districts and its adjoining axis by checking the activities of street traders and developers, who have converted all available spaces like walkways, streets and roads to shops.
Oyerinde, therefore, called on traders operating in the CBD, especially those selling on the streets and walkways, to remove their extensions and makeshift shops from the roads immediately, as no one will be spared in the present efforts to clean up the business district.
The suspects, who were arrested at different locations in Balogun, Martins, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tom Jones and Broad Streets during a monitoring and enforcement exercise by the CBD operatives have, subsequently, been arraigned before Chief Magistrate Shakirat Obasa of the Lagos State Special Offences (Mobile Court) sitting at Alausa, Ikeja, for committing an offence contrary to the Environmental Management and Protection Law of Lagos State 2017.
Says “INEC does not, and shall never appoint an indigene Ondo as Returning Officer”
The Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has described his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde as a disgrace to public decency and an embarrassment to the exalted office of the Governor he currently occupies.
Akeredolu, who is the flagbearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Saturday October 10th Governorship Election in the state said the statement from Makinde that INEC has appointed his kinsman, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returning officer for the election is an evidence that his Oyo State Counterpart is an intellectual liliputian who found his way to the corridor of power through mischief.
Ogunbodede is the Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. He hails from Owo, ditto Akeredolu.
Speaking through the Spokesperson of his campaign Council, Mr. Richard Olatunde, Akeredolu said Makinde, being a member of the Nigerian Council of State, should know that INEC would never, under any circumstance, appoint an indigene of the State as a Retuning Officer but the Oyo Governor circumvented truth and decency for political exigencies.
Akeredolu’s statements reads in parts: “we find as unfortunate, the statement credited to the Governor of Oyo State and Chairman of the PDP National Campaign Council for the Governorship election in Ondo State, Seyi Makinde, rejecting the Vice-Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede, as the Chief Returning Officer for Saturday’s Governorship election in Ondo State.
“While it is forgivable for the PDP in Ondo State to continue to raise false alarm and make spurious allegations over the election, it is inexcusable for a Governor like Seyi Makinde to market ignorance in such a shameful manner. This ridicules, in no small measure, the exalted office of Governor.
“As at the time he raised the objection, INEC had not even announced the appointment of a Retuning Officer for this Saturday’s election. We cannot but wonder how and where Governor Makinde in particular, got the information.
“Governor Makinde, as a member of the Nigerian council of State, ought to know that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not, and shall never appoint a Returning Officer who is an indigene to administer elections. No indigene of Ondo State can ever be made a Returning Officer.
“By this pedestrian dance, Governor Makinde has shown himself to be a disgrace to public decency and the office he is holding.
“For us in the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Akeredolu/Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation, we believe in fairness and the credibility. Our trust in INEC on a free, fair and credible election on Saturday remains undoubted.
“Therefore, we urge the people of the state to disregard the ignorance exhibited by the PDP and Governor Seyi Makinde while getting set to participate in the election on Saturday” the statement, concluded.
The Peoples Democratic Party has rejected the choice of the Vice-Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Prof Eyitope Ogunbodede, as the Chief Returning Officer for Saturday governorship election in Ondo State.
The Chairman, National Campaign Council of PDP, who is also the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, said this at a press briefing in Akure on Thursday.
Makinde said Ogunbodede is from Owo Local Government Area like Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
He also claimed the VC is a known crony of Akeredolu and would not be neutral.
Although INEC has not announced Ogunbodede, Makinde said the party has been informed that the VC had been selected.
He said, “It has come to our notice that the people of Ondo State will not be getting free and fair elections if the Independent National Electoral Commission as presently composed will be overseeing the elections.
“We are speaking in particular about the appointment of Prof Eyitope Ogungbenro Ogunbodede, the Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, as the Chief Returning Officer of the Ondo State Governorship election.
“The PDP totally rejects Prof Eyitope Ogungbenro Ogunbodede acting as Chief Returning Officer. He is a known crony of Rotimi Akeredolu SAN, candidate of the All Progressives Congress and hails from Owo, the same hometown as the candidate. He cannot be a fair party in the proceedings by virtue of their association.
“We also want to state that Professor A. S. Bamire, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, who conducted the training of returning officers is not a neutral party for the purpose of this election.
It has just been confirmed to OduduwaNews now that a gas building plant has gutted fire at Ipaja, Lagos State. Details later.
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