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Tag: Amosun

  • Ogun guber race: Defiant Amosun meets APM leaders, to announce next line of action

    Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, and the leadership of the Allied Peoples Movement are considering options on their next move over the results of the governorship election held in the state on March 9.

    Amosun gave the indication on Wednesday while speaking with the party’s leaders during a meeting at his private residence in Ibara, Abeokuta.

    Recall that the governor’s preferred candidate, Adekunle Akinlade of the APM lost to the All Progressives Congress’ governorship candidate, Dapo Abiodun.

    The private meeting had in attendance Akinlade; the state Deputy Governor, Yetunde Onanuga; and the Director-General of the APM’s Governorship Campaign Organisation, Sarafa Ishola, among others.

    The governor said the APM was consulting on the next step to take on its rejection of the results of the last Saturday governorship election.

    He said, “The framework needed for a legal action against the announcement of the results by INEC is ready.

    “Another larger meeting will be convened to determine the way forward.

    “I will not take a lone decision on the issue, but I will allow the invited APM members to give more insights about what happened in the wards during the elections before INEC released the results.

    “We were defeated by 19,500 votes or so. Clearly, that says a lot of things.”

    Meanwhile, the state Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Tunde Oladunjoye explained that members who left the party to join the APM were free to return.

    He, however, said those who had questions to answer might not be allowed to return until they had been pardoned by the party leadership.

    Oladunjoye said, “If they decide to come to the party, apart from those who have questions or disciplinary action or those who have been suspended, they are welcome.

    “The person that was suspended has not been expelled. So, technically, he is still a member.”

     

  • I bear no grudges against Amosun, says Ogun Governor-elect

    The Ogun Governor-elect, Mr Dapo Abiodun, says he bears no grudges against the outgoing governor of the state, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun.

    Abiodun stated this on Monday during his victory speech at a news conference in Iperu.

    He said that he took the position in spite of Amosun’s antagonism and hostility towards him in the build-up to the Saturday’s elections.

    Abiodun, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the governorship election was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday.

    Amosun, who is a leader of the APC in the state, rejected Abiodun after his (Abiodun)’s emergence as the party’s flag bearer from the election primaries conducted by representatives of the APC’s National Working Committee (NWC)

    Subsequently, the governor declared support for his anointed candidate, Adekunle Akinlade, who later contested on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).

    Having emerged winner of the polls, Abiodun, however, said he was not angry with the out-the governor, who is now a senator-elect.

    He recalled that he neither uttered any negative words against him nor exhibited any form of anger towards him throughout the period of the campaigns.

    “My desire and priority are to serve the people of Ogun sacrificially and this is what is uppermost in my heart.

    “That desire is beyond any personality and I have learnt through the experience of the campaign period that if a man is humble, keeps hope alive and resilient in the face of opposition and discouragement, he will eventually be victorious.

    “Though the race was tough, the challenge was tasking, the odds were enormous and the obstacles were many, but to God be all the glory for this divine victory which is for all the good people of Ogun.

    “Campaigns and elections are now over and it is time to start the real business of governance,” he said.

    Abiodun, who promised to run an all-inclusive government, called on his fellow contestants to join him in harnessing the human and natural resources of the state for the overall development of the state.

    “The development of Ogun is the collective duty of all and with the love of the state in our hearts; I know we all have something to offer for our development.

    ‘‘Our government will be more than willing to take the benefits of shared knowledge and experience,” he said.

    Unveiling some of his plans for the state, Abiodun said he would pro-actively create and promote enabling environment for a public and private sector partnership for rapid industrialisation and infrastructure development.

    He added that his government would focus on rehabilitation of rural roads to ease movement of farm produce with a view to creating wealth for real farmers.

    “The local government administration is the closest to the people and we will return relevance to this third tier of government in Ogun.

    ‘‘We will create a beneficial synergy that will quicken the pace of development in our local government areas,” he said.

    He expressed appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, as well as members and chieftains of the APC for their support throughout the period of election.

  • APC, Amosun, Okorocha and party discipline, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    APC, Amosun, Okorocha and party discipline, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    By Ehichioya Ezomon
    The bedrock of any organization is the observance of, and adherence and obedience to its rules and regulations, the absence of which breeds indiscipline and impunity, such as in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 election season.
    Article 2 of the APC constitution states that, “the provisions of this Constitution shall be supreme” subject, of course, to their being consistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
    And Article 9 mandates members to observe the rules and regulations embedded in the party’s constitution, affirm its aims and objectives and “conduct themselves in a manner that shall not bring the party to public odium and disrepute.”
    But what has played out in the APC? Naked abuse of procedures and involvement in anti-party activities. The powerful and mighty have made mincemeat of the supremacy of the party constitution, which provisions guide the conduct of members.
    Such are the antics of the Governors of Ogun, Imo and Ondo states, Ibikunle Amosun, Rochas Okorocha and Rotimi Akeredolu – all reportedly engineered the formation of parallel political parties under which they sponsored candidates, and campaigned for them in the February 23 and March 9 polls.
    Ironically, the governors remain in the APC, and Amosun and Okorocha have secured senatorial tickets at the February 23 election, while their “choice” candidates were or are being elected on the platforms of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Action Alliance (AA).
    Perhaps, for making a huge show of their infractions, and taunting the APC to do its worst against them, the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-headed National Working Committee (NWC) lately suspended Amosun and Okorocha from the party.
    Also suspended are the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru Usani, and the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, while Governor Akeredolu is queried for similar anti-party activities.
    Rather than show contrition, and explore avenues to mollify the NWC, and indeed President Muhammadu Buhari, whom they had repeatedly embarrassed by their unbecoming conducts, Okorocha has accused Mr. Oshiomhole as the “biggest player of anti-party activities.”
    Besides arguing that Oshiomhole ought to suffer a harsher penalty than the ones served those suspended and/or queried, Okorocha claimed that the NWC has no powers to sanction him without the initiation and recommendation of the executive committee at his ward level of the party.
    State governors, being the oil that lubricates the engines of their respective political parties, see themselves as not beholden to any authority. And this is the big problem for the APC going forward after the 2019 election: How to break the overbearing powers and influence of its governors and similar party bigwigs!
    However, by suspending/querying Amosun, Okorocha, Usani, Okechukwu and Akeredolu (the list should have included many other members across the country), the NWC has taken the first step to calling the recalcitrant members to order.
    Major offences members may commit, as listed in Article 21 of the APC constitution, include: A breach of any provision of the constitution; anti-party activities or any conduct likely to embarrass or have adverse effect on the party or bring the party into hatred, contempt, ridicule or disrepute; and disobedience or negligence in carrying out lawful directives of the party.
    Others are: Unauthorized publicity of a party dispute without exhausting all avenues for settlement or redress within the party; factionalisation or creating parallel party organs at any level; flouting the rules, regulations and decisions of the party; and filing legal action against the party or any of its officers on any matters relating to the discharge of the duties of the party, without exhausting all avenues for redress in the constitution.
    The rest are: Alteration of the Delegate lists, falsification of nomination results, and/or tampering with the processes of internal democracy of the party; and any other conduct or act prohibited by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Electoral Act, Electoral Guidelines or which, by the rules and regulations of the party, constitutes an offence.
    Is there any of these infractions that Governors Okorocha, Amosun and Akeredolu, and Messrs Usani and Okechukwu didn’t commit directly or encourage others to commit against the APC?
    The party, considering “the nature and gravity of an offence,” has power to mete out any sanctions that include: Reprimand; censure; fine; debarment from holding party office; removal from party office; suspension from the party; expulsion from the party; debarment from contesting party office; and, in appropriate circumstances, cause the prosecution of a member or erstwhile member of the party concerned.
    The sticking point, though, is whether the NWC followed the procedures to arrive at its decision to suspend and/or query the offenders, as raised by Governor Okorocha?
    Under Article 21 of its constitution, the APC adjudicatory bodies over complaints and allegations are located in the executive committees at the polling unit, ward, local government area, state, zonal and national levels of the party.
    Accordingly, the procedure for the hearing and determination of complaints or allegations is: A complaint by any member of the party against a public office holder, elected or appointed, or another member or against a party organ or officer of the party “shall be submitted to the executive committee of the party at all levels concerned,” which shall within seven days appoint a fact-finding or disciplinary committee to examine the matter.
    And the National Executive Committee shall, on receipt of the report of the fact-finding committee, make a decision on the matter within fourteen (14) days.
    If it didn’t, the APC should comply with these procedures, as some or all of the said offending members deserved their punishments, and even “automatic expulsion” for filing court actions against the party. Discipline must be entrenched, and maintained henceforth, and uncontrollable members should exit or be thrown out!
    * Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

  • Amosun dragged to EFCC over MITROS Rice N4b loan

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun state has been reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) over an alleged mismanagement of a N4billion Anchors Borrowers Fund for rice farmers.

    The petitioner, Nelson Ekunjumi, National Co-Ordinator for the Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate, based in Ikeja, Lagos, submitted a petition to the EFCC in Abuja on 28 February, urging the anti-graft agency to probe what the money was used for as ‘there is no rice plantation’ any where in Ogun.

    “Two years ago, the Ogun State Government secured a N4 billion facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to help Ogun farmers in boosting production of rice, via aggressive rice farming in the State. The core of the plan and purpose of the fund was to also use the facility to establish rice plantations in Ogun State and provide jobs for at least ten thousand youth.

    “On an inspection visit to the the State early last year by the Governor of CBN, Governor Amosun set up fake rice pyramids in Ogun State to give impression of massive output from the rice plantations. This was well reported in the mass media.

    “The governor also announced at the ceremony that rice plantations would be established in different parts of Ogun State including Ijebu North East and Ogun Waterside Local Government Areas.

    “After that photo-trick ceremony, nothing has been heard of Mitros Rice and there is no rice plantation established with the Anchor Borrowers Fund anywhere in Ogun State.

    “We urge your agency to quickly intervene without further delay. The huge sum of money involved would have gone a long way in bettering the lives of Ogun farmers, while providing jobs for our teeming unemployed youth.

    “Please treat as urgent sir, as we see such action as contradictory to the good intention of President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the importation of rice to Nigeria.”

    Governor Amosun is yet to respond to the petition.

    Amosun launched the Mitros(acronym for Mission to Rebuild Ogun State) rice in December 2017. About 110,000 bags of the rice were arranged in a pyramid, with the launch done with fanfare. The ceremony was attended by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and Governor of Kebbi state, who is also the chairman, Presidential Task Force on Rice and Wheat Production. There were also musicians and Nollywood stars in attendance.

    Some cynics at the time derided it as a political deceit.

    But Amosun dismissed the critics as political detractors.
    His commissioner for agriculture, Peju Adebajo said the government was promoting the production of Ofada brand of rice, native to the state.

    Amosun in his address at the launch said the production of MITROS RICE will go a long way in making Ofada rice available, at affordable price, for the people’s consumption.

    “The new Ofada rice will be produced in a hygienic manner, and to high standards; and it will enjoy standardised packaging – in 1kg, 5kg,10kg, 25kg and 50kg bags – and bear the MITROS stamp of quality, signifying goods produced to the highest standards”, he said.

  • APC speaks on how party will fare at governorship poll without Amosun, Okorocha, others

    APC speaks on how party will fare at governorship poll without Amosun, Okorocha, others

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) says the suspension of governors Rochas Okorocha and Ibekunle Amosun of Imo and Ogun respectively, will not affect the party’s victory in the March 9, Governorship and State House of Assembly election.

    Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the APC National Publicity Secretary, gave the assurance while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the development on Friday in Abuja.

    NAN recalls that the APC National Working Committee (NWC) at its Friday meeting, suspended Okorocha and Amosun, alongside the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) Osita Okechukwu and the Minister of Niger Delta Usani Usani.

    “As to the effect it will have in the coming Governorship and State House of Assembly elections, the real negative effect will come when we allow our members who are in position of influence to undermine our candidates.

    “We need to get it clear to every member who supports such actions that the party is watching them, and similar fate may befall them,” Issa-Onilu said.

    He added that the suspension of the governors would not have come to the public as a surprise following their anti party activities over a period of time.

    He recalled that the two governors had been sponsoring candidates against those recognised by the party.

    This, he said, had been ongoing and so the party had to follow the right procedures; taking steps to first get them to see reason why they needed to retract their steps.

    NAN recalls that in Ogun, Amosun is said to be backing AbdulKadir Akinlade, the governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) against APC’s Prince Dapo Abiodun.

    In Imo, Okorocha is supporting his son-in-law Uche Nwosu, the candidate of the Action Alliance, against Senator Hope Uzodinma, the APC candidate.

    “They occupy the position they are in today, courtesy of the ticket given to them by this party, to now use that opportunity to work against the interest of the party, you do not expect the party to look the other way.

    “More so when you realise that APC is a party of discipline that has come to establish the fact that to deepen democracy, you must subject everybody to the rule of law, and that there must be equality for all before the law,” he said.

    Issa-Onilu stressed that as far as the APC was concerned, no matter what position an individual held, the party would not give him any leverage when he flaunted the rules or the Constitution of the party.

    He added that the party’s leadership had at a point, issued queries to the two governors and cautioned them against their anti party activities.

    He recalled that when the APC presidential campaign train was led by President Muhammadu Buhari to Ogun, they were thoroughly embarrassed by a different party.

    Issa-Onilu said this was done with the support of the governor, who he said, brought in certain elements who were not APC members to the campaign venue to create problems.

    “This actually embarrassed our President, but we thought at that period, we were facing the Presidential and National Assembly Election and that it was not the appropriate time for us to do anything that might be destructive to our course, so we waited,” he said.

    He added that though there was a window for the governors to show remorse and act appropriately to convince the party’s leadership that they would play by the rules, they never did.

    He said rather Okorocha and Amosun came out openly to endorse their choice candidates against the party’s candidates.

    “Which ever way you look at it, that is anti-party activity, it is beyond the limit, and tolerating such, will mean that our change mantra is just a mantra without meaning,” the APC spokesman said.

    He further explained that the VON DG was suspended also, because of his anti party activities in the recent past, which he said had been documented.

    The APC spokesman said that Okechukwu had also engaged in actions that undermined the party’s performance in Enugu, his home state.

    He also explained that the Minister of Niger Delta was also found to have committed the same offence as the others.

    He maintained that it would be injurious for the party to allow such actions to continue, adding that the suspension still stood.

    He, however, said that the duration of their suspension would be determined by the time the report of the investigative committee on the matter was submitted to the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

    “I have forwarded the report to NEC, recommending their expulsion, the limit of the powers of the party’s NWC is to suspend; it does not have the power to expel.

    “It is only NEC that can take that action, so we have exercised what the Constitution of the party allows us to do, the report of our investigation will be put in place and passed on to NEC for further action,” he said.

    He added that the APC NWC had also decided to issue a query to Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State for anti party activities, adding that the party already had video evidence against him.

    NAN reports that Akeredolu had earlier been accused by the Ondo Mandate Group, an APC support group, of working against the party and the presidency.

    On the Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu, Issa-Onilu said the party had noted his comments, but had not seen him working against the party.

    He said the minister had his grievance and had the right to express same within the law, but added that the APC, for now, did not have any evidence that Shittu was involved in any anti-party activity.

     

  • Gov. Amosun wins Ogun Central

    Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun has been declared the winner of the Ogun Central Senatorial District election.
    The Returning Officer, Prof. Ayinde Akanbi, declared on Monday that
    Amosun polled 88,110 votes to defeat Mrs Tunji Oseni-Gomez of the African Democratic Congress(ADC), who had 37,101 votes.
    Akanbi announced the result at the collation centre, Centenary Hall, Ake Abeokuta.
    He said that Mr Solomon Sanyaolu of the PDP polled 33,276 votes while Mr Gbenga Adenmosun of the Allied People’s Movement had 10,039 votes.
    Solomon Olufemi of the ADP polled 6,510 votes, according to the returning officer.

  • BREAKING: Gov Amosun’s aide dies, SSG injured in motor accident on election eve

    Reports reaching TNG now has it that Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s aide, Adeniyi Adesanya, has died while the Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, was reportedly injured in a fatal motor accident.

    The accident according to reports occurred at Siun-Kobape along Sagamu-Abeokuta road.

    Adeoluwa reportedly sustained a severe injury and has been rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Idi -Aba, Abeokuta.

    A source confirmed that the SSG has been transferred to the Intensive care unit of the FMC .

    The remains of Adesanya who was popularly called ‘friend of the governor’ have been deposited at the hospital morgue.

    Details later…

  • I regret spending all my money on Amosun to emerge Ogun gov – Osoba

    I regret spending all my money on Amosun to emerge Ogun gov – Osoba

    A leader of the All Progressives Congress and former governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, has said he regretted working for the emergence of the incumbent Ogun governor, Ibikunle Amosun, in 2011.

    Osoba said this on Friday while addressing leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ogun State Chapter, during a visit of the governorship candidate of the APC in the state, Dapo Abiodun, to the secretariat of the union in Abeokuta, the state capital.

    Osoba said he was proud to say that he spent all the money that he had to make Amosun governor in 2011 on the platform of the Action Congress.

    He said, “I spent all the money that I had on me to make him governor.

    “He requested for four commissioner nominees from me and I took the list to him in his office. Thank God, Leke Adewolu (former Commissioner for Special Duties), was on seat that day.

    “The only regret I had was that I gave him the list containing the four names and he tore it in my presence. He then asked me to write a fresh one and bring it to him. I looked stupid. That was my only regret.”

    Osoba however, said he is optimistic Abiodun would succeed Amosun as next governor of the state during next month’s general elections.

    Osoba said he wished to stand as a guarantor for Abiodun before the NLC, pledging that he would not maltreat workers in the state if elected into office.

    He said, “We will set up a committee that will comprise those who have served in various capacities in the state government, look at the monthly internal generated revenue, how much are being owed and other things.

    “So, we will engage you, labour unions, so that when Abiodun is sworn in on May 29, he would have the record and hit the ground running.”

    In his remarks, Abiodun said that he would work closely with the NLC in the state once elected into office.

  • Ogun 2019: APC mocks Amosun, says he deserves pity

    The Ogun State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Wednesday said Governor Ibikunle Amosun deserved some pity and sympathy rather than condemnation because he (Amosun) has lost touch with reality.

    The party was reacting to a statement credited to the governor over its flag bearer, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

    The governor had reportedly claimed the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) governorship candidate, Abdulkabir Akinlade, would defeat his party gubernatorial candidate, Dapo Abiodun, in the March 2019 governorship polls.

    Reacting through a statement by the Publicity Secretary to the Ogun APC State Executive Caretaker Committee, Comrade Tunde Oladunjoye, and made available to The Nation, APC said Amosun actually deserves sympathy and not condemnation, stressing that he has lost touch with political reality in the Gateway State.

    The statement reads in part:

    “But for the fact that the reported outbursts of the governor were reported by a credible online medium, we would not have taken him serious; and for the fact that friends in the media have been asking for response, we would not have reacted.”

    “However, rather than exchange words with the governor, we would call on members of the public to please sympathize with the governor and pray for him, as he is obviously manifesting outgoing syndrome resulting from political amnesia, loss of touch with reality and fear of life after office.

    “For an individual to attempt to play God, and assault the collective intelligence of the well informed people of Ogun State by telling them who the next governor of Ogun State will be, as if he has already written the results, shows that such person deserves our pity; we don’t need to exchange words with him, but to actually sympathize with him on his present state of paranoia on Prince Dapo Abiodun.”

    “The constant, unceasing and monotonous attack on Dapo Abiodun by the governor and his minions shows that our candidate is the leading contestant and his imminent victory is only a matter of weeks.

    “We challenge the governor to publish the recent survey he commissioned and which he read to some leaders in his house last week, wherein it was revealed that his preferred governorship candidate will not only lose the election, but also lose in the governor’s hitherto strongholds of Ifo, Ewekoro and Ado Odo Ota local governments.”

    “Our party and candidate will remain focused, maintain decorum and continue to sell out policies and programmes to the good and discerning people of Ogun State, even as we are sure of victory.

     

  • Ogun APC crisis: Amosun backtracks, says ‘I fear only God, not Buhari’

    Ogun APC crisis: Amosun backtracks, says ‘I fear only God, not Buhari’

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun has clarified that he only fears God and not human beings, including President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Amosun said God whose counsel or pronouncement cannot be altered by man, is the one he fears and nobody else.

    The Governor spoke during the 2018 edition of the state’s Christmas Carol and Service of Nine Lessons at Kuto, Abeokuta, the state capital, in a reaction to newspaper headlines that he only fears God, Buhari and no one else.

    Amosun was reported to have made the comments while addressing leaders and members of All Progressives Congress (APC) during a stakeholders meeting last Friday at the party Secretariat in Abeokuta .

    But clarifying his earlier statement, he said he fears only God and not Buhari.

    “You know this is our time as politician, a time when politicians will call black, blue. Yesterday I held a meeting with our people, and the way I started was that, I was brought up to fear God but only for me to see in the paper this morning that ‘Amosun says he fears God and Buhari’.

    “No, it is only God I fear, the one that is alive, the only one that will say ‘kufayakun’ and no one can change(it), that is the only God that I fear.

    “Of course, I respect President Buhari, I love him and he loves me too but I know him he fears God because he is from God. He doesn’t beg for respect he commands and earns it. So it is only God that I fear.”

    In his yuletide sermon, the Secretary-General, Anglican communion worldwide, Anglican communion office and consultative council, London, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon attributed the nation’s problem to scanty knowledge of both the Holy bible and the Quran.

    Idowu – Fearon said politicians are negatively using religion to divide the country but enjoined citizens to refuse any of such moves.

    He said: “Our major problem in this country today is that, so many people has scanty knowledge and understanding of the holy Quran and the holy Bible and they tend to propagate that little understanding of the word of God and anyone who does not agree with them, will be seen as an enemy.

    “For the Christians, the real problem is sin because it was sin that caused the reincarnation and that is why Jesus came as sacrifice and as ransom for men.

    “Jesus is a word that came in human flesh and as a result, he is a messenger and his mission is to save the people from their sins.

    “Meanwhile God expect us all to humble ourselves but our politicians are negatively using religion to divide us in this country and the time has come for all us to say no to them.”