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Showing posts from March, 2019

OPINION: Seyi Makinde’s Litmus Test | Oladeinde Olawoyin

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                           Governor Seyin Makinde Auwal Shanono was a med school finalist. But he never finalised his academic pursuit. He was shot dead in Iwo Road. June 7, 2011. It was Ibadan week of dagger, bullets and deaths. Today, in a way, a similar atmosphere of death and bullets looms over Ibadan. 1. First, a caveat: Oyo state governor-elect, Engineer Seyi Makinde, has never appealed to me. The grounds are clear: one, he is quite boring as a speaker and two, he has no verifiable PUBLIC records against which one can measure his antecedents in terms of performance delivery. With little or no public records and a below average oratory prowess, he has always been for me a difficult option. There is but only one path to the minds of a few of us; the path of discourse. So when he ran for the senate seat in 2007, it was difficult to even listen to him speak in Eruwa. But in the last guber election, at least until he struck that last minute deal with Rashidi Ladoja and his d

OPINION: The Shittu You Don’t Know

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Communications Minister, ADEBAYO Shittu I decided to write this article because of a Facebook post I saw recently where someone praised Buhari for the huge remittance made by NIPOST this year, the highest in many years. This person is an APC member (a youth leader) which was why I was surprised that he could not give the credit of that achievement to the right person which of course should be the Honourable Minister of Communications – Dr. Adebayo Shittu. Sometimes we need to look beyond sentiments and place more priority on getting what is best for us as a people.   Late 2017, I had this conviction that I should join politics. It’s not something that I could explain here. Having resigned my job as an Administration Executive to intern with an advertising agency, I called egbon Ola who I knew has always been very politically conscious since UI days and he in turn directed me to call Tokunbo Salako. To cut a long story short, I would later be invited by my egbon, Saheed Oladel

EFCC TO ARREST OUTGOING GOVERNOR AMOSUN, YARI, OKOROCHA, AHMED AS IMMUNITY ENDS ON MAY 29

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EFCC The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has set up an investigative team to probe four outgoing governors for corruption once they officially hand over on May 29th. The governors are Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State and Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State. Yari was alleged to have diverted N500million and $500,000 from the state coffers in 2017. The money, part of Paris Club refunds disbursed to states, was recovered from two firms, First Generation Mortgage Bank Limited, and Gosh Projects Limited, linked to Yari. Also, Amosun would be investigated following a petition written by the Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate, accusing Amosun of misappropriation of N4billion Anchor Borrowers’ Fund given to the state by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The group claimed that Amosun deceived Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor, when he came to the state for inspection while also insisting that Amosun

FG: Speedy Execution of Ibadan Inland Dry Port Will Create Massive Employment And Boost Nigeria Economy.--Amaechi

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The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has reiterated its commitment to the speedy execution of the Ibadan Inland Dry Port (IDP) project and establishment of an industrial park around the IDP site to create wealth and provide massive employment for youths. Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, disclosed this at the weekend when he and other top government officials visited the IDP site on an inspection tour of the project at Olorisa-Oko, Ibadan. The minister, who was received by the deputy governor of Oyo State, Chief Moses Adeyemo, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Ishmael Olalekan Ali, and other top government officials, gave kudos to the Governor Abiola Ajimobi led-administration, for allocating 90 hectares of land for the development of the Ibadan Inland Dry Port (IDP) project and establishment of an industrial park around the port site to create wealth, generate massive employment and boost the economy. Amaechi, who was

VIDEO: Man Commits Suicide, Jumps From Bank’s Mast In Ibadan

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A yet-to-be identified man jumped to his death from a bank’s mast at Sango area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Saturday,  naijatoday.com  has gathered. Confirming the sad incident to Tribune Online, Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), Oyo State Command, Mr Olugbenga Fadeyi, said “the naked man came to the bank’s branch in Sango and entered the building through its small gate,” as he said “people who saw .thought he was a mad man “It was after he gained entrance into the bank’s premises that he climbed the bank’s mast before the security personnel became aware of his action,” Fadeyi said. He had already climbed the mast to its peak, before they alerted the police, but before anything could be done, though the police responded immediately, the victim had jumped down to the roof of the bank. “The District Police Officer (DPO) and Fire Service personnel who arrived the scene of the incident were swift to action to safe the man’s life, but the

Oyo NUT In CRISIS As ‘Olojede-must-go,’ ‘Olojede-must-stay’ Protesters Storm Ibadan

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                    Washed Olajede, NUT Secretary  Campaign for and against the extension of service of Mr Waheed Olojede as Secretary, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), continued on Thursday with members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) from Oyo, Ogbomoso, Oke-Ogun (OOODEC) and Ibarapa zone asking the national leadership of the union to uphold the one year extension of service granted Olojede. Addressing journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) press centre, Ibadan, the OOODEC bloc led by its deputy Chairman, Mr Adewole Taiwo condemned Wednesday’s protest by its members representing the Ibadan bloc against Olojede’s continued service as Secretary as unfair, barbaric and unlawful. It would be recalled that some teachers in Ibadan land, led by its zonal Chairman, Mr Tunde Onifade, protested on Wednesday, insisting that Olojede having retired in January 2016, had over stayed his time as state Secretary. Nigerian Tribune  quoted Adewole as describing the r

Bola Tinubu: His Legendary Exploits, His Politics, His Leadership By Soji Akanbi

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             Senator Adesoji Akanbi  Only a few men get lucky enough to have their lives being celebrated while they are alive. But for some of these men, it is more than luck. They are simply so great that the world cannot afford to wait till they are gone before they are celebrated. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is one man whose life and legacy in business and politics continue to be a source of attraction for many of us. It is that time again when the world celebrates his birthday and as usual, several annual events have been ongoing in that direction. According to INEC, Youth – 18 and 35 years – constitute the highest number of voters with 51.11 percent at 42,938,458 voters. This means that out of the 84 million registered voters in Nigeria today, 51.11% were either unborn or were kids in 1993 when Asiwaju Bola Tinubu came into limelight. Perhaps, this 67th birthday is a good time to tell the youths a bit about their history, which is incomplete without

Buhari signs N30,000 Minimum Wage into law

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•President Buhari President Muhammadu Buhari has finally signed the N30,000 minimum wages proposed by Labour into law. He said the payment of this new minimum wage will commence in May, 2019 to mark the international Workers’ Day. Earlier in the week, the President had pledged to expedite the signing of the bill. The two chambers of the National Assembly had passed the bill and transmitted it to the President for his assent. The President had set up a tripartite committee to look into the demands of the organised labour.

Makinde Denies Animosity With Ajimobi, Says “I’ve Issues With Hasty Award Of Over N40b Contract”

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Oyo State governor elect, Engr Seyi Makinde has said that his recent comments on the scale and manner of    fresh contracts being hastily awarded by the state government at the twilight of the administration was borne out of concern for the financial health of the state rather than an attack on the person of Governor Ajimobi. In a statement issued on his behalf by Prince Dotun Oyelade, the Governor elect said he accords Ajimobi due respect not only as Governor but as his senior. “But governance being a serious business, the statement said, Makinde cannot look on while direct instructions are given to local government councils to spend all monies in their care including Stabilisation Accounts which are traditionally reserved for emergencies and natural disasters even when there are no cases of emergency anywhere in the state,” the statement said. The statement said that there are documents that showed the list of roads which government has released/or planning to

Seyi Makinde, Remi Olaniyan, Other Elect Lawmakers Receive Certificate Of Return From INEC.

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The independent National Electoral Commission, INEC today presented certificates of return to Oyo state Governor- elect Engineer Seyi Makinde, his deputy Engineer Aderemi Olaniyan and elected members of the state House of Assembly. Engineer Seyi Makinde his deputy Eng Remi Olaniyan and their wives. The event which was held at the Banquet Hall of the premier Hotel Ibadan had in attendance representatives of the Chairman of INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakub, Asst. INEC National chairman, for Oyo, Osun and Ondo. Prince Solomon Adedeji Shoyebi Yakubu, Head of Security agencies in the state, Chieftains of Political parties among others. Oyo state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barr. Mutiu Agboke in his welcome address disclosed that that 17 electoral petitions have been forwarded to the Oyo state Election Petition Tribunal by aggrieved candidates from various parties in the state. “Presently, arising from the general election in this state, we have a t

Senate presidency: PDP warns APC, Ndume tackles Oshiomhole

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The Peoples Democratic Party and its senators on Tuesday berated President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress and its National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, over their position on the leadership of the ninth National Assembly. The PDP senators, in a statement in Abuja by the Minority Leader, Biodun Olujimi, and Senator Dino Melaye, asked their APC colleagues to leave the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, out of their schemes to produce the ninth Senate President. On its part, the PDP said its elected senators and members of the House of Representatives were constitutionally eligible to lead both chambers of the National Assembly. Statements by the opposition party and its senators were as a result of reports, which indicated that Saraki and the PDP senators planned to influence the emergence of the Senate President in the ninth National Assembly. Also on Monday, Oshiomhole, at a meeting with members-elect of the House of Representatives, said the party must have