Few hours to the presidential and national assembly poll, the camp of the Oyo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) received a major boost as a major rival political party, Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM), collapsed its entire structure while its leadership announced that at least 25 of their candidates for the 2023 general election and the whole of their State Executive Committee members have joined the APC.
This announcement was jointly made by the trio of the National Vice Chairman (South West) of the party, Engr. Adewale Durojaiye, the state Chairman, Alhaji Ganiyu Ademola, and deputy governorship candidate of the party in the 2023 poll, Mrs. Funmi Omoniyi, as they spoke at a press briefing organized after a meeting with Oyo APC Chairman, Mr. Isaac Omodewu, and Senator Teslim Folarin who’s is the broom party’s gubernatorial candidate at the APC’s state secretariat, Oke-Ado, Ibadan on Thursday.
According to Durojaye, the decision to fuse the entire structure into Oyo APC was “borne out of the burning desire to be part history as Nigeria is set for a turn around under Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who would emerge as the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We have seen from all indications that Tinubu would not only defeat all his other contestants on Saturday but he would also win convincingly with a wide margin to set an unprecedented record. We cannot afford to be left behind as patriots and democrats.”
In his own address; the APM’s state chairman, Alh. Ademola, stated that they took the bold step after wild consultation with relevant stakeholders from.within and outside the state. His words; “we have a crack team of strong candidates, executive committee members at all levels as well as teeming population of our party faithful from across the 33 Local Government Areas in the state. Although we cannot tell the public the disposition of our Party’s gubernatorial candidate to this move as we have lost communication with him for some weeks now, I am glad to tell the whole world that the deputy governorship candidate and 24 other candidates of Oyo APM are in full support.”
In his reaction; Oyo AP’s chairman, Hon. Omodewu lauded the defectors and assured them of robust relationship as stakeholders in APC. According to him; “it takes a lot of courage and foresight for this kind of decision to be made by any politician at a critical stage like this. We now have it on record that your team of distinguished politicians and patriots acted right when it mattered and your place in the book of history shall be guaranteed as having aided the cause of nation building”.
Among members of the APM’s state executive committee and other state who were present at the meeting are; Hon. Kayode Adeyinka (state Secretary), Comrade Samson Adesiyan (state organizing Secretary), Mrs. Falilat Amoo (state women leader), Comrade Lanre Badmus (state youth Leader), Mr. Mobolaji Elewi (state financial Secretary) and Mr. Adeoye Adedokun (state public relations officer) as well as Oyo North Senatorial Candidate, five House of Representatives candidates and 20 House of the candidates.
Yesterday, Sunday, the 19th February, 2023 witnessed a superlative performance of Fresh FM Radio Station as the station, in conjunction with others across the state, organized a live debate for the major political parties’ gubernatorial candidates.
The PDP candidate and sitting governor – Engr Seyi Makinde, Accord Party’s Chief Adebayo Adelabu and APC candidate, Sen. Teslim Folarin were to appear for the debate but due to one reason or the other, only two candidates were on air.
The debate has come and gone, the jabs, the arguments and counter arguments by the participants was impressive. Both Gov Seyi Makinde and Chief Adebayo Adelabu spoke with maturity, facts and brotherliness which portends good prospects for our dear state.
However, both of them goofed and become selfish on the issue of successor. In their responses, the agenda is Ibadan and Ibadan only.
Where is the plight of other sections of the state? The Okeogun, Ibarapa, Oyo and Ogbomoso geo-political zones? They too need to taste power and power has to rotate in 2027. Is leadership in Oyo State meant for Ibadan indigenes only? When would another person from zones other than Ibadan have a taste of power in the state?
For equity, fairness and justice in an egalitarian society like ours to prevail, both Gov Seyi Makinde, Chief Adebayo Adelabu and any other likely aspirants from Ibadan should forget 2027 and allow an Okeogun indigene to succeed whoever wins March 11, 2023 gubernatorial election in the state.
As incumbent governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde must be ready and prepared to support an Okeogun candidate for 2027 if only he wants our votes in March 11, 2023.
Esv Ismail Adewoyin The Convener, Okeogun Project Forum
The Senatorial Candidate of Accord Party in the February 25th General Election, Kolapo Kola-Daisi KKD has expressed his desire to award bursary to Indigent students of Oyo South Senatorial District.
According to information gathered from the campaign office of KKD, the process has been on since December last year and after following all process, selected beneficiaries has been picked and will be awarded on Thursday 23rd February 2023.
The Senatorial District Candidate, Kolapo Kola-Daisi according to a statement accredited to him reiterated his support to the student community if elected. He stated that he has always identified with the students and his agenda is youth inclined and will do more if elected.
The National President of the Oke-Ogun Development Consultative Forum (ODCF), Barrister Ahmed Raji SAN has called on the people of Oke-Ogun to remain calm and avoid activities that might lead to violence and destruction of properties in the region.
He called on community leaders to discuss reasons why Oke-Ogun should be working towards attracting and building public infrastructures rather than destroying them through violent mob actions and protests.
Raji said this in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday, urging youths to rather decide on good leadership come the 2023 elections rather than rioting.
The Senior Advocate also called on the federal government to expedite actions towards resolving the crisis associated to the new Nigerian naira swap and cash withdrawal policy that has created suffering for the masses.
“It is very clear that the situation in the country, especially that of the cash swap and cash withdrawal limit policy has caused a lot of hardship for the people, this has shown in the emotional outburst that has led to violent riots across the country and loss of lives and properties.
“In Oke-Ogun, we should remember that the development process to get our region to an enviable level has started, the federal and State government have started looking towards developing natural resources in our area while business owners are thronging towards the region to establish their businesses, thus, we need to eschew violence at this critical period so as not to destroy the little we have and chase away those coming to help build more.
“I urge our monarchs, community leaders, market leaders, youths leaders and others to please have periodic discussions with our youths so they will have sense of belonging in this process of safeguarding the little we have till we have more.
“We are also calling on the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria to expedite action on the cash swap/ cash withdrawal limit policy and make the new naira notes available for the people.”
Barrister Ahmed challenged the youths in Oke-Ogun to also see the 2023 elections as important to change the fortune of Nigeria for the better, asking them to vote for their conscience and eschew violence.
Former member of the House of Representatives and Deputy Director Monitoring and Evaluation PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Oyo State, Hon. Festus Adewale Adegoke has been appointed as the Principal Technical Officer PTO for the 2023 Presidential Election.
According to a message signed by the Assistant Director, CSOs, PDP- Presidential Campaign Management Council (PCMC), Hon. Kunle Yusuf, MON, the appointment takes immediate effect and he’s saddled with the responsibility to manage, organize and coordinate INEC Accredited Observers in Oyo State during the 2023 Presidential Election coming up on February 25.
In his response, Hon. Wale Adegoke appreciated the PCMC for finding him worthy for the responsibility and reiterated his support in ensuring that H.E Atiku Abubakar emerges victorious in the coming Presidential Election.
Mr Babajide Sanwo-olu, the Lagos State Government has directed Lagosians to continue transacting with the old naira notes.
According to a statement by the governor on Wednesday evening, he applauded the people for their patience and assured them of the State government continuous support.
The full statement reads:
“I hereby commend and applaud your patience and calmness, following the sad controversy generated by the Naira shortage crisis.
I would like to inform you that the Lagos State Government has joined the dispute at the Supreme Court, which today adjourned the hearing of the matter till February 22.
When the matter first came up on February 8, the apex court said the old notes remained legal tender.
That position has not changed. Therefore we hereby warns those rejecting the old notes to desist from doing so or face prosecution. It is against the law to reject the old notes, as doing so is contrary to the position of the Supreme Court.
I therefore plead with everyone to remain law-abiding, and shun mischief makers who may want to exploit this temporary situation to promote their anti-people agenda. I am confident that the Judiciary will resolve all the issues around the currency shortage crisis.
To cushion the effect of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive on the old notes, especially on the vulnerable among us, Lagos State has started the distribution of the food packs as I earlier promised, while the 50% fares slash on all State transportation services facilities continues”
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.
……Says Riots, Agitations Will Affect Region’s Development
A social-cum-academic group of Oke-Ogun indigenes has called on youths from the area to shun acts that could lead to the destruction of lives and property in the area.
In a statement made available to journalists on Tuesday, the National Coordinator, Oke-Ogun Centrepiece Alliance, Professor Kehinde Yusuf, noted that the major public and private properties destroyed during the EndSARS protests are still being rebuilt today by various communities ravaged by violence.
Yusuf hinted that the violence being witnessed across the country over the scarcity of Nigerian currencies as well as petroleum motor spirit (PMS) should not be allowed to spill to the region where, according to him, human and infrastructural development was just being minimally experienced through the collective efforts of residents and the government.
He called on community leaders and leaders of thought in all the ten local government areas of the region to call the attention of all youths to the consequences of acts that could lead to crisis in the area.
“As tension rises in different parts of the nation over the fuel crisis and currency crisis, let us counsel our different communities to ensure that there is no violence in any part of Oke-Ogun.
“Our region is still struggling for developmental projects that will impact on our people positively, be it in education, health and social infrastructure and human capacity development. We should not allow the efforts of those that have made personal efforts and put their personal resources into achieving these into jeopardy by allowing our youths to be incited to unleash mayhem on our communities.
“Iseyin community is still reeling from the effects of the last EndSARS protest. The community is still building the community police station and other public and private infrastructure that were destroyed, and lives taken then are still being mourned. Let us reflect deeply,” he admonished.
Oyo State governor, Engr. Oluseyi Makinde, on Monday, announced that the next five years will bring about a huge transformation in the fortunes of Akinyele Local Government Area in the state. The governor stated that his claim would come to pass because of the various landmark projects and infrastructure being put up in the area.
The governor, who stated this while campaigning across the council, maintained that ongoing projects such as the Inland Dry Port, the African Development Bank’s Agroprocessing Zone, the Oyo State government-initiated Ilutuntun City as well as the multifarious infrastructure projects put in place by his administration, will make Akinyele the richest local government in the state within the next five to 10 years. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, on behalf of the Seyi Makinde 2023 Campaign Media Team, quoted the governor as noting that lands will become gold in Akinyele Local Government, warning traditional rulers to avoid indiscriminate sale of lands. The governor, who met with the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) at the First Baptist Church, Alade, Moniya; the League of Imams, Akinyele Local Government at the Central Mosque Moniya and the traditional worshippers at the Isese Temple, Moniya, urged the religious leaders to support the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidates in National Assembly, state Assembly and governorship elections. Also speaking at the Kara Market and the Moniya Junction venue of the campaign, Governor Makinde said his administration has been able to deliver on its campaign promises, including free qualitative education, expansion of the state’s economy through quality roads, security of lives and property through the creation of Amotekun and support for the federal security agencies, among others.
The governor, who stated that everything his administration has been able to achieve under Omituntun 1.0 will be consolidated under Omituntun 2.0, warned residents not to allow opposition political parties who have nothing to campaign with to deceive them ahead of the coming elections.
Speaking with traditional rulers in the council, during a meeting held at the Award Hall, Akinyele Local Government Secretariat, Moniya, the governor declared that he will be ready to approve any internal reform on chieftaincy issues so far such reforms emanated from the Olubadan-in-Council. He equally promised to review the 5 per cent allocation to traditional rulers in the state, saying that he will never work against the interest of the traditional institution. He said: “We had a meeting like this in 2019 and I never minced words on what my government would represent then. And one thing I promised you was that I may not be right all the time, but that I will be honest all the time with the people of Oyo State.
“The major issue you have raised today is about the beaded crown. When the problem started then with Olubadan-in-Council, I said it where CCII gave me a chieftaincy title that I will always be on the side of the Olubadan, even against the sitting government then. There are a few mix-ups and I will explain it to you today. “I greet you the Kabiyesi of Ijaiye. You have commended us for fixing the road that leads to your environment and it is the same location we have the Pacesetter Quarry. We did it and handed it over.
“You may be concerned that the operations of the Quarry is not enough but I have not asked OYSIPPA about the proceeds coming out of the site as long as it is boosting the commerce of Ijaiye in terms of production of asphalt, creation of jobs for the indigenes. So, that is enough for me because, since 2011, nothing has been happening at the site.
“On the issue of the crown, when the last Olubadan joined his ancestors, nobody could say anything and we would not have been able to install the new Olubadan if we had not withdrawn the case from court. I know that you mounted pressure on them. I am before you today and I can say that there is no hidden agenda. The progress of Ibadan and our environments is all I desire.
“So, I asked them to withdraw the case to clear the path for us to install the new Olubadan, which they did. And I said to them that it is not the right traditional practice for the governor to be installing a monarch. We have an Imperial Majesty in Ibadan, which is the Olubadan of Ibadanland. Whatever reform you are making, do it and bring it to me, I gwill approve it.
“So, today, I want to appeal that the council of Obas and Olubadan-in-Council sit together and come up with an internal reform, because you know everything that is happening internally. “Any reform that comes from you is the one that is sustainable. You don’t have to come and lobby me. Once you are done and the Olubadan-in-Council brings it to me, I give you the assurance that I will sign it.”
The governor also promised that the issue of complaints over lands acquired for the Dry Port and Ilutuntun Business District would be looked into, noting that compensation will be paid to those whose lands were acquired for the Dry Port within the next few weeks.
He, however, urged that residents of Akinyele should also be prepared for land swap deals in a way that will bring greater benefits to the community, saying: “The monarchs should be prepared for such land swap deals in Akinyele too. They should hold those they are in charge of, because the land is our gold here, and Akinyele Local Government is one of the major beneficiaries of the deal.
“Other local governments, such as Iseyin and even Ajia in Ona-Ara, where I am from, because of the Circular Road, will benefit from the prosperity of Akinyele.
“If you are going from Moniya to Iseyin, you would have seen a lot of estates springing up, and even the special agro-processing zone is also here. So, Akinyele, in the next five years, will be the richest local government area in Oyo State.”
Speaking during his meeting with the Muslim community of Akinyele Local Government, the governor also pledged to fix that Ojo-Ayegun Road before the end of the present administration in the state.
He also hinted that the state has sought the approval of the Federal Government to dualise the 9.78km Ojo-Moniya Road.
On the entourage of the governor were his deputy, Barr. Abdulroheem Bayo Lawal and other top government functionaries; wife of the governor, Engr. Tamunominini Makinde; wife of the former governor of Oyo State, Mrs. Mutiat Ladoja; chairman of the Oyo State Advisory Council, Senator Hosea Agboola; members of the Advisory Council, Senators Monsura Sunmonu and Gbenga Babalola.
Others were top PDP chieftains including the Deputy National Chairman (South), Amb. Taofeek Arapaja; Dr. Saka Balogun; Chief Jacob Adetoro; Chief Sunday Ogunlade, among others.
The Oyo State Governor, Engr. Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde on Monday, 16th January 2023 sworn in Hon Justice Iyabo Yerima as the Acting Chief Judge of Oyo State, following the retirement of the former Chief Justice, Justice Mukhar Abimbola Rtd. According to the Governor, the swearing-in accordance with Section 271(4) of the Constitution of the FRN 1999 (as amended). The Governor also stated that preparations are ongoing to appoint a substantive Chief Judge.
