Oyo Voters will reject Atiku on Saturday, APC tells Jumoke Akinjide

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The All Progressives Congress APC in Oyo state has cautioned a former minister of state for the Federal Capital Territory, Ms Jumoke Akinjide, to thread softly and refrain from making futile attempts on the mass media with a view to running down the presidential candidate of the APC, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is favoured to defeat Atiku Abubakar and others in the presidential election coming up this Saturday.

The former minister under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan appeared on a private radio station at the weekend where she again made some disparaging comments about Sen. Bola Tinubu in an apparent effort to mobilize support for Atiku Abubakar of the PDP which she represented.

While reacting to Ms Akinjide’s outbursts in a statement issued on Sunday and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC described the daughter of the former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General as a failed political player who was desperate to make a comeback to reckoning and also take an advantage of the vulnerability of Atiku to dispossess him of his money.

“With what the whole world was able to see as massive support for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu last Thursday when he visited Ibadan for the presidential rally of the APC, it would make no sense for us to engage in a battle of wits with any political jobber in the PDP or any other party. Despite the adverse effects of ill-timed cashless policy sponsored by some unfriendly forces to discredit the APC ahead of the general election, people trooped to the streets of Ibadan to show love and support to Tinubu.

“This obviously jolted the likes of Ms Akinjide who felt the best thing to do was to embark on a fresh campaign of calumny against the popular choice of the masses with a view to giving a false hope to Atiku Abubakar of the PDP. Meanwhile, one would have loved to listen to the manifesto and programmes of the former vice president from Ms Akinjide in the course of the interview but she chose to boxing the shadow as she made Tinubu her only subject of discourse for about an hour.

“We have had promptings from many concerned members of the public who wanted us to remind the public about the similar inglorious path which Jumoke’s dad took against Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Uncle Bola Ige in 1979 and 1983 respectively as well as many other historical events which lend credence to the anti-Yoruba mantra of the Akinjides but we are of the opinion that we do not have to travel that route for obvious reasons even as we remain focused and determined to secure a well deserved victory for Asiwaju and his running mate, Sen. Kassim Shettima, this Saturday.

“But for personal ambitious, covetousness and greed, people like Jumoke Akinjide would know that a southerner must succeed President Muhammadu Buhari while Bola Tinubu stands tall among all the contestants for the coveted seat. As it is on record that Ms Akinjide has never contested and won any election in her life, we would like to admonish her to always think beyond her own whims and caprices before seeking the support of the people because history would not be kind to her after the conclusion of the this year general election which Nigerians are ready to take advantage of and throw up Tinubu as their president.” Sadare stated.

Oyo APC to Makinde: Refund N5.2b Wasted On Failed Stadium Remodeling Project Now

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The All Progressives Congress APC in Oyo state has called on Governor Seyi Makinde to either refund the whopping sum of N5.2billion which his administration purportedly spent on the remodeling of the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan or risk being dragged to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to account for the alleged fraud involved in the award and execution of the ‘failed project’.

This latest reaction from Oyo APC, apparently, came against the backdrop of the reports credited to the Interim Management Committee (IMC) which described the soccer pitch of the Adamasingba Stadium (the home ground of the Shooting Stars Sports Club) as falling below standard and unplayable. IMC is the body set up by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to oversee the nation’s elite soccer league.

In a statement issued on Wednesday and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC berated Gov. Makinde over his refusal to explain to the world the details of all the stadiums and sport facilities he has used the sum of N5.2b to fix since he claimed that the said amount was not expended on only Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan.

“Most of our people who visited the Stadium in Adamasingba to watch the recent home matches of our darling team (3SC) against El-Kanemi Warriors and Nasarawa United respectively had given an unpleasant report about the whole stadium facility particularly the soccer pitch which has just been confirmed as an eyesore by the IMC. This is against the impression which the Makinde administration had created through the mass media.

“It is recalled that the lid was first blown open on the very day the purportedly remodeled stadium was being recommissioned and the event attracted disgrace to Gov. Makinde and the good people of the state instead of the anticipated applause. It happened that the whole place became waterlogged and messy as a result of a minor downpour. What happened on that day should have made Gov. Makinde throw in the towel but he only followed it up another media campaign equating the substandard stadium facility with those of Maracana, Emirates and Nou Camp in Brazil, England and Spain respectively.

“Meanwhile, the revelation coming from IMC about the sordid job done on Adamasingba Stadium did not come to us as a surprise since we had established that the present PDP administration of Gov. Makinde is synonymous with fraudulent contract awards and poor delivery. This is a government that would sponsor some cronies to register some companies with the Corporate Affairs Commission today with a view to giving the emergency construction outfits tomorrow without any recourse to Due Process law.

“Sad enough, we also have it on good authority that the orchestrated 5 kilometre road contract award imposed on each of the 33 Local Government Council chairmen totalling 165 kilometres across the state has been given out to the same fake company being used to siphon the resources of the state since 2019. The arrangement this time is for the proxies behind the company to attend to some street roads across Ibadan at random after collecting the full sum for the inflated 165Km road contract and then disappear.” Oyo APC lamented.

BAT AGENDA 2023 decorates Rt. Hon. Sanni Jaji as National Patron

The Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu/ Kasheem Shettima Presidency support group known as BAT AGENDA 2023 Leadership paid a courtesy visit at the Wuse 2, Abuja Office of Rt. Hon. Aminu Sanni Jaji on Thursday 13th October, 2022. The visiting team comprises of Balogun Gaphar Ojetola (National Coordinator), Dr. Dahiru Bala Birnintsaba (Deputy National Coordinator, North West) Pastor Adekunle Akinpelu (Abuja FCT member) and Alhaji Rabiu Garba Baraya (Zamfara State Coordinator). Other representatives who were held up in other assignments were the FCT Coordinator, Hajji Wahab Momoh, Ekiti State Coordinator, Dame Modupe Kolawole and the National Secretary, Mr Tunde Ajibola.

While introducing the support group to the National Patron, Balogun Ojetola remarked that the group has a wide grassroot memberships covering the South West, North West regions, FCT, Kogi and Rivers States and in diaspora namely the United Kingdom, North America, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Sierra-Leone. During the presentation of the group’s manifesto to the National Patron, the National Coordinator highlighted the core agenda of the group as : 1. Grassroots mobilisation including door to door campaigns; 2. Voters education and orientation;

  1. Enhancement of dividends of democracy to our respective constituents;
    Any other functions as may be delegated by the party and support group leaderships.

The Rt. Hon. Sanni Jaji in his address commended the efforts of the group for their extensive coverage and networking within and outside the federation providing support for the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu/Kasheem Shettima presidential mandate. He however assured the group of all necessary support and guidance in ensuring adequate delivery on their well mapped out initiatives. He prayed that all the group efforts will be crowned by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed/Kasheem Shettima victory at the coming election.

Dr. Dahiru Bala Birnintsaba, North West Regional Coordinator and Deputy National Coordinator NW joined the National Coordinator in decorating the National Patron with the group’s customised muffler and face cap.

The group representatives had a photography session with the National Patron at the end of the meeting.

Confusion over South-West APC meeting, Fashola, Aregbesola not invited

Progressives Congress leaders as invitation to the excluded the party’s key stakeholders in the zone.

In the notice of the meeting signed by a former National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, those invited to the meeting included the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; a former Ogun State Governor, Chief Segun Osoba, Gen. Alani Akinrinade (retd); the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and the Minister of Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo and another party leader, Chief Pius Akinyelure.

Other are the Ondo State Governor,  Rotimi Akeredolu; his Ekiti State counterpart, Kayode Fayemi; Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State; the Osun State Governor,  Adegboyega Oyetola;  Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu of Lagos State and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission,  Alhaji Musiliu Smith.

A chieftain of the party, who confided in one of our correspondents, said he did not understand why the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and his counterpart for Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, were not invited to the meeting.

Another top official of the APC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated, “If two former governors were at the meeting, I expected the ministers to be there. They are key stakeholders too.”

Mr Lani Baderinwa, an aide in charge of Public Communication for Chief Bisi Akande, could not be reached for comment on the matter.

Calls to his line did not go through and the reply to text message sent to him on whether the ministers were invited , was still being expected as of the time of filing this report.

Also, Sola Fasure, an aide to the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, did not respond to text message asking if the ex Osun governor was invited. He did not pick calls to his mobile line as of the time of filing this report.

Similarly, Hakeem Bello, the spokesman for the Minister for Works and Housing could not be reached.

However, one of his former aides in Lagos, who declined to be named, said the minister did not mention about the meeting.

“I cannot say if he was invited or not; he never mention a meeting in Lagos to us,” he said.

But a source the meeting who spoke to one of our correspondents, said there was no hidden agenda in exclusion of some key stakeholders.

He said, “This is just the first in a series of meetings. They were not invited to this one because the issue at hand at the moment is internal.

“This is like foundation laying, they will be invited subsequently. The fact that they were not invited to this one is not to slight anyone.”

Source: Punch News.

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