MUST READ...OSUN POLITICAL DRAMA KICKS OFF

No doubt, 2013 governorship election in Osun State has started gathering momentum with its various features. Campaigns, meetings, forming of various political groups and most importantly allegations upon allegation.   

Take for instance, a close associate of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State and Director General of De Raufs, a volunteer group championing the second term ambition of Governor Aregbesola, Mr. Amitolu Shittu has just raised the alarm that his life was under threat for his organisation’s support for Aregbesola’s re-election bid.

Mr. Shittu, a renowned human rights activist and former Deputy National Chairman, South West, of the de-registered National Conscience Party, NCP, has been soliciting support for Governor Aregbesola.

Addressing a press conference at his office in Osogbo yesterday, Shittu disclosed that he had received several threat messages on his mobile phone in the last two weeks by anonymous persons.

He noted that the threat against his life might not be unconnected with his support for the second term ambition of Governor Aregbesola, stressing that the threat would not stop him from further canvassing for peoples’ support for Aregbesola’s second term in office.

He hinted that he had reported the matter to both the Police and the State Security Service (SSS) in Osogbo, the state capital.

Meanwhile, this allegation or better called raising of alarm is not new in Osun Politics. Anyone close to the incumbent administration is potentially exposed to such a political gimmick.  

Meanwhile, security agencies in Osun State as well as journalists are advised to conduct thorough investigation on this matter. Amitolu’s political antecedent is not hidden to the people of the state.  

MUST READ..HOW PETER POWER CAUSED SCENE AT IKIRE DAY

Dr Peter Babalola, the former Chief of Staff to the Osun State governor caused a scene on Saturday during the 2013 edition of Ikire Day.

Ikire, the headquarters of Irewole Local Government Area of Osun State played host to dignitaries from all walks of life who came from far and near to identify with the good people of the town.

But the former Osun COS did not let the epoch making event go without showcasing his kick-boxing talent.

Though, his name is synonymous with violence, Mr. Peter Action proved beyond doubt that his party, All Progressive Congress, APC is out for nothing but what Yoruba people called Ijakadi.

The News Daily correspondent who was at the occasion reports that violent was narrowly averted during a fight that broke out between two factions of APC.

It was gathered that Mr. Peter Babalola beat the hell out of a serving APC councilor. The said councilor who represents Ikire ward 6 in then present administration in the council was said to have been striped naked by Dr. Peter Babalola.

Scooping around, it was learnt that the said councilor was accused of blocking the way where Babalola’s car was supposed to be parked. Irked by the blocking, TheNews Daily can authoritatively report that Dr. Peter Babalola rushed down from his car and dowsed a dirty hot slap on the councilor’s face.

As if that was not enough, the almighty Peter Babalola who is now a serving board member in Mr Rauf Aregbesola’s administration, proved his superiority with a call on the Area Boy who in-turn took care of the councilor.

An unconfirmed source told our correspondent that the victim was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention owing severe injuries he sustained.  

         

DELTA BYE ELECTION: DAFINONE HEADS TO ELECTION PETITION TRIBUNAL

The last appears not to have been heard of the National Assembly poll in Delta Central as the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) has vowed to contest the outcome of the poll at the Election Petition Tribunal.

The DPP senatorial candidate for Delta Central, Chief Ede Dafinone is contesting the victory of Mr. Emmanuel Aguariavwodo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Delta Central senatorial district.

In a statement issued on Thursday in Sapele, the DPP senatorial candidate described the April 12 bye- election as political denial perpetrated against Urhobo, the 5^th largest ethnic group in Nigeria.

 “There is little recognition of Urhobo at the federal and state levels in terms of appointments and positions. Similarly, the interference in the last election where the candidate foisted on the PDP in Delta State is again foisted and this time forcefully on the people of Delta Central”. 

The DPP candidate who is not pleased with the result of the election where PDP was declared winner flayed the exercise which he alleged was not free and fair and was enmeshed in violence and intimidation of voters.

He condemned the reckless desperation, the sheer treachery and lawlessness of leaders of the PDP in the state. He also accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of overturning the rule of fairness and allocating victory to the PDP.

“We reject this outright robbery of the people’s will. We condemn this grievous injustice, this unconscionable mockery of all that is decent, of all that is fair and just.

The army and INEC, both Federal Government institutions worked with the PDP’s candidate to ensure his victory. The PDP used the army to unleash terror on the people of Delta Central. For hours, gun shots rent the air and the people were clobbered. Also, the announced result shows PDP in first place. As if that is not bad enough, the result shows All Progressives Congress (APC) in second place with DPP the Populist Party in the third place. All that combines to make the whole result laughable” the statement said.

The statement said the party’s legal team had been told to head to the poll tribunal.

“As law abiding citizens, we intend to explore all legal means to ensure this sham of an election is cancelled. We shall be proceeding to the election petition tribunal to present our case” the statement added.

DON’T ALLOW OMISORE TO AFFECT YOUR POLITICAL LIFESTYLE-MIMIKO TOLD

Following an alleged romance between the Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko and the former deputy governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, some chieftains of Labour party in Ondo State are ready to lock horns with the governor of the State

Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko and Senator Omisore, the former chairman of Senate Commttee on Appropriation who is among governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, are believed to have been holding several secret meetings majority  

Though, both Mimiko and Omisore are said to be age-long friends, they reportedly met at the residence of a chieftain of the PDP in Osogbo before they both attended a dinner organized by the Lion’s Club, district 404 recently in Osogbo.

Mimiko and Omisore were said to have met privately with some other chieftains of the PDP in the state later, it was gathered , appeared at the GMT Hotel, venue of the dinner, where an award was also conferred on Omisore by the club.

The meeting between Mimiko and Omisore, according to reliable sources, may not be unconnected with next year’s governorship election in the state, as Omisore has started mobilizing support for the realization of his long nursed dream of becoming the governor of the state.

Omisore is believed to be the leading aspirant among the contestants in the PDP for the state governorship ticket.

However, the romance seems not to go down well with some members of Labour Party. Those that spoke with TheNews Daily correspondent in Akure and Ondo town respectively lamented that the romance might have bad influence of the party.

The fact that the duo are long-time friends cannot be erase, but the Labour Party chieftains who craved anonymity maintained that the relationship “should not affect their political affairs”. The advised that governor Mimiko should not allow the friendship to affect his political lifestyle.

The respondents, who vowed to take every necessary precaution to fight against Omisore’s influence in the party, said “nobody is against their friendship, infact it is good, He (Mimiko) should not allow that to influence him. We will take every necessary precaution to ensure that our party doesn’t have any affiliation with any other party and we will not allow anyone to drag us into what is not all in the name of ‘friendship’.    

AKINBADE, AKINLABI DROPS GOVERNORSHIP AMBITION?

 Yoruba people are very dynamic in so many ways. One major thing that makes them unique and special is their sayings and traditional names. Take for instance, when someone is called Akin.

Akin in Yoruba could be literarily translated to be a courageous person. Akin could be derived from the names such as Akinkanju among others. Infact, Yoruba’s in their saying have submitted that “Omo Akin kan kii s’ojo”. This could mean a courageous person can never entertain fear”.

But, the reverse is the case in most cases. Take for instant, the two powerful Akins in Osun gubernatorial race. They are the former Secretary to Osun State Government, Alhaji Fatia 

Akinbade, also know Akin omo Akin and the former Minister of Youth Development, Senator 

Akinlabi Olasunkanmi.

With the rumor making wave on the political lifestyle of these two gentlemen, the duo are currently proving not to be what the name Akin is synonymous with.

The two political leaders in the Osun State were said to have dropped governorship ambition to support Senator Iyiola Omisiore. How true is this?

The duo of Akinlabi and Akinbade it was rumored are aware of their dwindling fortune in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state. Just as preparations into the election have started gathering momentum, it was gathered that both Akinlabi and Akinbade have commissioned their supporters to work vigorously in ensuring the victory of Senator Omisore.

It is believed however, that these remain gossip as it is being reported. 

JUSTICE SALAMI RETIRES UNCEREMONIOUSLY

The former President of Nigeria Appellate Court, Ayo Salami has retired. Justice Salami who has been facing several allegations bothering corruption most especially on his verdict on Osun and Ekiti State governorship election suits.    

It would be recalled that on October 15, 2010, Justice Isa Ayo Salami gave the controversial judgment, removing Engr. Segun Oni as governor of Ekiti State.

After the judgment was pronounced, Segun Oni said, "If I have used this red biro in my hand to steal Ekiti peoples' money, let the curses in the Bible be upon me. But if not, the judgment just delivered is the judgment of man and this will be the last judgment Salami will deliver as a judge in Nigeria, except if he has not lied".

The judgment of that day was the last verdict Salami gave. Salami retired on October 15, 2013 without giving any other judgment since he gave the October 15, 2010 judgment.

Justice Salami retired, however, unceremoniously with no valedictory Session for him. 

TheNews Daily will bring to you our esteem readers details of the controversial judgments he gave on Osun and Ekiti State.

2014: AREGBESOLA, FAYEMI VOTES FUND TO SECURITY- ESTABLISHES STATE POLICE

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and his counterpart in Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola as well as chieftains of of All Progressive Congress, APC in the two states are now working assiduously to ensure that the duo return to office come 2014.

Probably realizing their dwindling fortune owing to some anti peoples policy  recently introduced by the two governors in their respective States,  the governors who are now in web of complications owning to challenges posed to them by governance are leaving no stone unturned to ensure their victory..

TheNews Daily can authoritatively report that clear image of what may likely happen in the coming gubernatorial elections in the two states came to the fore with the recent launch of various security outfits in Ekiti and Osun State.

Governors Fayemi and Aregbesola who are major campaigner for State Police are now using their state’s fund to finance their own state police.        

Last week, Governor Fayemi launched his own police, calling it PEACE CORPS with members of the Corps placed on N20,000 per month. Controversy, however, trailed the establishment of the Peace Corps as the people of Ekiti State described it as a way of witch-hunting members of the public mots especially those in opposition party.

Fayemi has again launched a VOLUNTEER CORPS, with each of the Poling Units in Ekiti State having FOUR persons. The Volunteer Corps are to be placed on N10,000 per month, with their VOTERS CARDs' VIN and PU Numbers taken during their registration at Christ School.

Governor Aregbesola on the other hand has purchased patrol vehicles for the State Governor’s 

Monitoring Team. Just as the Police in the state and other security agencies are yet to have adequate logistic

s to perform their duties in making the State hot for criminals, governor Aregbesola despite this, bought patrol vehicles for his GMT.

The GMT are believed to be those that will monitor the elections come next year. People of Osogbo, the State capital and other towns in the State have on several occasions questioned what led to the establishment of the GMT, which men are populated by Aregbesola’s O YES men.

It is widely believed however, that the level of desperations of these two governors call for urgent attention by they Federal Government most importantly the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubarkar.   

APC DISMISSES REPORT ON ZONING OF VP TO SW

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed as reckless, baseless and completely unfounded the report published by a local newspaper Monday that the party has zoned its vice presidential slot to the South-west instead of South-East.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the report was orchestrated by those who are threatened by the high profile and prospects of the party’s candidate in the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra.

”Having realized that their attempt to milk the so-called deportation issue has fallen flat on its face, these desperate politicians have now resorted to outright lies and wild imagination. They figure that if they played the South-West against the South-East, by saying the APC has zoned the VP slot to the former over the latter, some people may just fall for it. This is cheap politics,” it said.

APC assured Nigerians that the party has, at no time, discussed the issue of its presidential and vice presidential slots, hence could not have zoned any of the posts.

”Our party is an inclusive national party which will definitely accommodate the interest of all Nigerians in all its actions. We are therefore urging all the good people of Nigeria to ignore this fabricated story. There is no iota of truth in it,” the party said

APC expressed concern that a newspaper with a good pedigree will lend itself to be used to push such a dangerous and irresponsible agenda by reporting fiction as fact.

”One would have expected a media organization that is worth its salt to be circumspect in reporting such fiction.

 It is particularly interesting that all the media organization had – as a basis for the story – was a  ”strong indication” that the party will zone its vice presidential slot to the South-West.  ”Not once was a single source quoted by name, for such an important story. This is the height of irresponsible reporting that runs against the grain of responsibility, fairness and accuracy in journalism,” the party said.

FAYEMI'S WIFE BORN IN JUNE, CELEBRATING 50TH BIRTHDAY IN OCTOBER?

 

Erelu Bisi Fayemi

Have you ever heard of one-chance? Now, I think Ekiti State don enter am oooo

Erelu Bisi Fayemi, wife of Gomina Fayemi of Ekiti State was born in Liverpool, England on June 11, 1963. She celebrated her 50th birthday in June, this year.

But may be she is living up to an "Omo aijoberi" that she is, she probably is, she is celebrating another 50th birthday in October! 

The ONE WEEK birthday programme started on Monday, this week, and will end on Sunday. Tomorrow, it will be a lecture and book launch in Ado Ekiti as indicated in this report published in The Nation newspaper of today. 

Infact, a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Ms. Leymah Gbowee , will deliver a public lecture on “Governance, peace and security: Challenges and new direction for Africa” in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, tomorrow.

A former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Nigeria, Nnsuka (UNN), Prof. Bolanle Awe, will chair the event, which is organised to commemorate the 50th birthday of the governor’s wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi.