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Tag: ekiti

  • Kalu blasts Fayose over attacks on Buhari, says ‘divert your energy on delivering good governance to Ekiti people’

    A former Governor of Abia State, Dr.Urji Uzor Kalu has warned Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State to focus on delivering good governance to the people of his state rather than attacking President Buhari’s health condition.

    He urged Fayose to focus his criticism on performance and not personality the personality of Buhari who is presenting on medical vacation in London.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that President Buhari traveled for medical check-up in London on Sunday, May 7, more than a month he came back into the country from a previous medical vacation.

    Kalu said this while delivering a paper titled ‘Mainstreaming Igbo in Nigeria’, as guest speaker during the inauguration of Igbo Support group for Governor Yahaya Bello in Lokoja.

    The former Governor also blasted Governor Fayose over a statement credited to him that he was deceiving the Igbos by dumping the Peoples Democratic Party PDP for the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    Kalu, however, noted that Fayose and him were still friends but that the Ekiti governor goofed to say that he was deceiving Igbos for defecting to APC.

    “Fayose should endeavour to show the people of Ekiti the essence of good governance rather than engaging himself on unnecessary criticism of Mr. President and others perceived as arch enemies”, he added.

    The Abia born politician noted that he once engaged ex President Olusegun Obasanjo while in office as governor, adding that he criticized him on the issues of third term agenda and road construction in the East.

    “I have never attacked the personality of the former President Obasanjo like Fayose always drags the name of President Buhari to mud, particularly his health related issues”, he stated.

  • EKITI 2018: INEC registers 35,909 new voters

    EKITI 2018: INEC registers 35,909 new voters

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ekiti has registered 35, 909 new voters as part of its preparations for the 2018 gubernatorial election in the state.

    The INEC Administrative Secretary in the state, Dr. Muslim Omoleke, said this on Sunday in a statement.

    He said that the figure was generated from the ongoing continuous-voter registration in the state.

    The statement was released to journalists by INEC’s Public Relations Officer, Alhaji Taiwo Gbadegesin.

    Omoleke giving a breakdown said that 35,909 eligible voters comprising of 18,193 males and 17,716 females were registered as at June 29, 2017.

    He said the exercise which began April 27, 2017 in the state has been very successful.

    Omoleke said that the commission also had 4,154 registered voters who were seeking transfer of their voting rights to new locations from within and outside the state.

    He said that 1,048 permanent voter cards (PVCs) had so far been distributed in the state out of those initially left uncollected by voters.

    He said that six new registration centres had also been allocated to the state based on returns and agitation for more centres to ease the process.

    According to the state INEC, the new registration centres are at St. Michael’s Primary School, Ajilosun, Ado Ekiti, for Ado Ekiti Local Government Area; Health Centre, Omuo-Ekiti for Ekiti East Local Government Area and CAC Primary School, Ipoti-Ekiti for Ijero Local Government Area.

    Others are: Post Office building, Ikere-Ekiti for Ikere Local Government Area; LA Primary School, Ikosu for Moba Local Government Area and St. John Anglican Primary School, Ilupeju for Oye Local Government Area.

    The commission commended the people of the state for their cooperation in ensuring a smooth conduct of the exercise.

    He advised other eligible voters to visit other designated registration centres in their respective local government areas to register.

    “They should realise that it is criminal and punishable under the law to register more than once,” he said in the statement.

  • Fayose expresses shock as first Ekiti gov, Bawa dies at 67

    The first military administrator of Ekiti State, Colonel Inuwa Bawa (rtd), has died.

    Col. Bawa was said to have died in a hospital in Jos, the Plateau State capital on Friday.

    Reacting to the death, Governor Ayodele Fayose, described the death as “shocking and a great loss to the people of the state who are appreciative of the pioneering role he played in the state.”

    Fayose, who reacted through his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, said “his death came at a time we just finished mourning late General Adeyinka Adebayo.”

    Fayose said Bawa came to Ekiti at a time Ekiti needed a man like him for take off and despite the odds he met on ground as the first Military Administrator, he practically squeezed water out of stone to lay a solid foundation for the state.

    “The late Colonel Inuwa Bawa braved the odds as the pioneer governor of our dear state to lay a very solid foundation on which others have been building. It is an understatement to say he worked assiduously for the progress of our state, he did work tirelessly for our state and its take off.

    “Despite the hitches associated with someone pioneering the take off of a state, he was able to harness the human resources of the state to give the people the encouragement and motivation needed for the sustenance of the state.”

    “Bawa’s astute leadership qualities did not allow the efforts of our fathers who fought for the creation of the state to be in vain. Every Ekiti son and daughter will remember Bawa for his efforts and giant strides given the limited material resources available to him and his team.

    “We pray God to give the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss and we, the people and government of Ekiti State identify with them in this period that they have lost a fine gentleman and military officer,” he said.

     

  • Gunmen murder senior NSCDC official in Ekiti

    Gunmen murder senior NSCDC official in Ekiti

    The Ekiti State Police Command on Thursday confirmed the killing of Mr Sunday Afolabi, an Assistant Superintendent with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Ekiti State.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Afolabi was allegedly killed by yet-to-be-identified assailants along Afao Road in the evening of Wednesday.

    The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the state police command, Mr Alberto Adeyemi (SP), told newsmen in Ado-Ekiti that preliminary investigations had revealed that Afolabi was killed by suspected cultists.

    He said that his body had been deposited at the morgue of the Ekiti State Teaching Hospital in Ado-Ekiti.

    The NSCDC spokesman, Mr Tolu Afolabi, who also confirmed the killing to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, on Thursday, said that further investigations into the incident had commenced.

    He said that no stone would be left unturned to unmask the killers of the officer.

    NAN quoted the spokesman as saying that the late Afolabi, who served in the Intelligence and Investigation Unit of the NSCDC, was reportedly shot in the heart.

    He said, “Some yet-to-be-identified gunmen have killed one of our officers, Sunday Afolabi, an Assistant Superintendent Corps 1 (ASC1).

    “He was killed along Afao Road, Ado Ekiti at about 1530 hours on Wednesday, 19th April, 2017.

    “The officer was shot in the heart and his corpse has been deposited at the mortuary, while investigation continues.”

    NAN reports that the late Afolabi hailed from Ayegbaju-Ekiti in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti and married with children.

     

     

    NAN

  • Federal might won’t save you from disgrace, Ekiti people rejected you in 2014, they’ll do so again – Fayose tells Fayemi

    Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has said the good people of the state chose him over his predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi in all the sixteen local councils in the state because he (Fayemi) lost touch with the people.

    Fayose also accused Fayemi of plotting a return as the State Governor through the back-door by arm-twisting the Supreme Court to review its judgment of April 14, 2015.

    Fayose revealed this while addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti on Monday.

    TheNewsGuru.com recalls that the Supreme Court judgement had validated Fayose’s election in the June 21, 2014 governorship polls.

    In his words: “We are not unmindful of the allegation made by a Supreme Court Judge, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta that the Minister of Transportation and former governor of Rivers State, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi begged him to ensure that my election was set aside and another election ordered for his friend, Fayemi to contest. Curiously, that grievous allegation was ignored by the powers that be.

    “If Fayemi could try, using Amaechi to approach Supreme Court justices to procure black market judgment then, nothing stops him from trying to do same now that it is very clear that he can never achieve his ambition to be Ekiti governor once again through the votes of the people and we urge Nigerians to take note,” the governor said.

    “Having realised how difficult it will be for him to clinch APC ticket not to even talk of winning the election proper, Fayemi has opted to seek power through the backdoor.

    “Fayemi and his cohorts are even boasting that they are putting pressure on the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen to join them in the devilish plot.

    “The question is: what unfinished business was he talking about in an election that he lost clearly? What unfinished business does Fayemi have with an election that I won fair and square, defeating him in all the 16 local governments of the state, including his home town of
    Isan-Ekiti?

    “Mind you, that June 2014 election was the second time I would be trouncing an incumbent governor, the first being in 2003 when I defeated the sitting Alliance for Democracy (AD) governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo.

    “As I address you today, there is credible information that Fayemi has provided fund for the filing of the matter at the Supreme Court and he has assured his loyalists in the APC in Ekiti State that the Presidency and a section of the judiciary, especially the newly appointed Supreme Court justices are in total support of the plot to remove me at all cost.

    “It is however my advice that the Supreme Court and indeed the entire judiciary should be mindful of this banana peel coming from the same people who orchestrated the DSS invasion of judges residences in the night just because they refused to assist them to perpetrate
    injustice.

    “This is more so that Fayemi and his collaborators are not unaware that Order 8, Rule 16 of the Supreme Court expressly stated that the court shall not review its judgment once giving, except there was a clerical mistake or slip.

    “They are also aware of the position of the Supreme Court judgment on Andy Uba that there must be an end to litigation, a position also affirmed in the case of Prof. Steve Torkuma Ugba vs. Gabriel Torwua Suswam.

    “Most importantly, in Segun Oni vs Fayemi, he (Fayemi) was a beneficiary of the suis generis (time bound) nature of election matter and the matter becoming functus officio once judgment is delivered by the final court as provided by the Electoral Act, and sane minds should wonder what magic he intends to perform by going to the Supreme Court on an election matter already determined at the final court, if not that he may have indeed gotten the assurance of the powers that be.

    “One is therefore concerned that people who go about parading credentials as democrats will be so vicious that they won’t accept defeat, close to three years after they lost an election even in their own family house.

    “We are therefore alerting Nigerians once again of this plot coming from Fayemi and his APC people who have proven over time that they are bad losers and will never respect the will of the people.

    “The fact that I have more or less become the opposition last-man standing should not be made to become the reason an avoidable banana peel will be placed on the path of the Supreme Court and I urge our Supreme Court justices to be mindful of being rubbished by desperate politicians.

    “If they are worried about my stance on national issues, they should do things differently in the interest of Nigerians that are hungry and suffering under the yoke of bad governance of the APC.

    “However, let me state expressly that Fayemi and his collaborators will fail. They failed before, they will fail again. The harder they come against me, the harder they will fall. “Another governorship election in Ekiti is around the corner and if Fayemi is a democrat, he should prepare to contest in that election rather than continue to shop for ‘Oluwole’ and ‘Jankara’ judgment that will return him to office through the back door.

    “Fayemi and his backers in Abuja must be reminded that Ekiti people are united behind me and will fight him and his cohorts with the last blood in our veins. The power of the people is mightier than ‘Federal might’ If they dare Ekiti, they will meet their nemesis. If they do not retreat and put an end to their diabolical plots, Ekiti will be their Waterloo.

    “Finally, let me reiterate that I have an unflinching confidence that the Supreme Court will not debase itself. On the 2014 Ekiti governorship election, the apex court has spoken and it has spoken so clearly. Day-dreamers like Fayemi can continue to hallucinate. As for me and the Ekiti people, our focus is on the 2018 governorship elections”.

     

  • Three men caught with human skull in Ekiti

    Ekiti State Police Command has arrested three men for allegedly being found in possession of a human skull.

    The suspects–Muhammed Isiaka, Ismaila Okoro and Abidemi Awolusi–were said to have been arrested with the skull and some weapons, including charms.
    The state Commissioner of Police, Abdullahi Chafe, said the suspects were arrested by men of the Operation Flush at Igirigiri, a farmstead in Ado Ekiti, describing them as kidnappers and armed robbers who had been terrorising Ekiti in recent times.

    The suspects were among several others paraded by the police at the command headquarters.

    Also paraded for armed robbery were Tope Falua, Olaoluwa Fagbamila, Gbenga Faleye and Kehinde Adejuwon.

    “We recovered charms and Indian hemp from Adejuwon’s premises while conducting a search on the premises,” Chafe said.

    He said his men also arrested one Oyewumi Tope and Olayiwola Faluru, while allegedly siphoning diesel on the premises of the Ekiti State Water Corporation.

    The police also paraded one Olusoji Damilola, who was allegedly caught at the scene of a robbery, where a petrol station’s attendant, Oluwadare Adebayo, was robbed of N1.2m.

    “We will not rest until we ensure that our people can sleep with their two eyes closed. And these people will be charged to court soon,” the CP said.

    The police boss promised to release details of investigation into a report that some policemen beat up an American returnee, Mrs. Toyin Adeyeye, at a police checkpoint in Ado Ekiti.

    The American returnee was allegedly brutalised and detained with her two-month-old baby, Heritage, and her brother, Adeniyi Dada, by the police for allegedly refusing to give a bribe at a checkpoint.

    She also accused the policemen of stealing $750 from her during the incident.

  • FG’s refusal to release monthly allocation to Ekiti is vindictive – Fani-Kayode

    Former minister of aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode on Wednesday said Federal Government’s refusal to release the monthly allocation to Ekiti State Government is petty, vindictive and reprehensible.

    Simply because the courageous Ayo Fayose has become the rallying point of opposition against Muhammadu Buhari does not mean that the people of Ekiti state should suffer.

    I call on Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to intervene in this matter expeditiously and release the Ekiti State Governnent’s allocation forthwith.

    Recall that Ekiti state Governor, Ayode Fayose yesterday addressed the media over the seizure of the state’s allocation while alleging that FG has plans to cripple activities under his administration.

    Fayose’s words, “I called you here today to intimate you about the new plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) led federal government to cripple our state by rendering it impossible for the government to carry out its statutory financial obligations.

    “It is alarming that while we were almost concluding that the siege on Ekiti and its people by the APC government in Abuja, with full collaboration from leaders of the party in Ekiti State had stopped, we are now being confronted with yet another shenanigan by those who won’t mind to see Ekiti people die of hunger just to achieve their selfish political agenda ahead of the 2018 election.

    “The question is; if they have issues with Fayose politically, must they suffer the innocent government workers?

    “Two weeks ago, some top functionaries of the APC in Ekiti State met in Abuja where it was decided that renew efforts should be made to cripple the State. It was agreed that the federal government must be made to stop all intervention funds to Ekiti State while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should be used to cripple the finances of contractors handling government legacy projects.

    “The game plan is that the moment workers do not receive their salary, they will hate me and my party, the PDP and this they believe will translate to votes for them in 2018.

    “This new onslaught against Ekiti State and its people started with the stoppage of the State January allocation and statutory budget support fund.

    “While all states in Nigeria received their full allocation from the federation account last month, the budget support fund was not release to Ekiti State thereby making it impossible for the state to meet its financial obligations, most especially the payment of salaries.

  • Ekiti court remands herdsman for grazing on N25m cassava farmland

    Ekiti court remands herdsman for grazing on N25m cassava farmland

    The police on Thursday arraigned a 30-year-old herdsman, Abubakar Usman, in a Chief Magistrate Court in Ado-Ekiti, for grazing on a N25m cassava farmland.

    The Prosecutor, Sgt. Bankole Olasunkanmi, told the court that the accused and others at large, committed the offence sometimes in December at Iyemero farm settlement camp ‎in Ikole-Ekiti.

    Olasunkanmi said that the accused unlawfully permit his cattle to graze on the 70 hectares cassava farmland property of Bunmi Akingba, valued N25,000,000.

    He said the offence contravened Section 2 (i) and punishable under Section 7 of Prohibition of Cattle ‎and other Ruminants Grazing, Ekiti State Law 2016.

    The prosecutor also said that the accused and others at large had in their possession offensive weapons contrary to Section 4(1) of the Prohibition of Cattle and other Ruminants Grazing of Ekiti and Punishable under Section 11 of Ekiti State Kidnap and Terrorism (Prohibition) Law 2015.

    Olasunkanmi told the court that he had forwarded the case file to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.

    No plea was taken Chief Magistrate Idowu Ayenimo remanded the accused in prison till the outcome from DPP office. He adjourned the case till March 3 for mention.

  • Fayose uneducated enough to have understanding of international politics – Ekiti APC

    Fayose uneducated enough to have understanding of international politics – Ekiti APC

     

    The Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has lashed at the state governor, Ayodele Fayose for criticising President Muhammadu Buhari over his non-invitation to the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45 th President of the United States of America, USA.

    Recall that Fayose had mocked the President, saying his non-invitation to Trump’s inauguration is an indication that he has lost his international popularity.

    But the state chapter of the party in a statement on Sunday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, described Fayose as a “reckless interloper and shameless busy-body” who dabbles into matters he has no competence in order to present a larger-than-life image of himself.

    Olatunbosun maintained that the governor was a man who lacked the deep understanding of international politics and diplomacy and who had “elevated gangsterism, hooliganism and thuggery to an act of political valour”.

    The statement said, “Because Fayose is not educated enough to understand the dynamics and perspectives of international politics and diplomacy, he has reduced the American international and diplomatic politics to the beer parlour politics of muscle-flexing he runs in Ekiti State where all issues are trivialised and individualised for personal benefits to the detriment of the greater good of the people.

    “It is a pity that an uninformed upstart is the one calling the shots in the Land of Honour in Ekiti State where knowledge-based information and integrity are the fountains of our development.

    “Fayose does not have this, hence he was uninformed about the information in public space that Heads of States and Governments across the globe had no need to attend Trump’s inauguration in Washington but would be represented by their heads of missions in America.

    “Apparently not aware of this information and unwilling to be educated on the new American policy thrust, Fayose rolled out the drums in ignorance to celebrate the absence of the President of his country on that important world stage.”

    Olatunbosun noted that Fayose’s inadequacies and garrulous conduct did not represent the collective attitude of Ekiti people.

    He said, “Nigerians should see Fayose as lacking in Ekiti finesse and, therefore, should be seen as an unblemished poster boy of what he is generally known for all over the world as can be explained in many alleged criminal cases hanging on his neck in courts and the agencies of government, which does not represent the image of Ekiti people in the context of national politics.

    “Because of Fayose’s moral nature and value that reeks of boisterous and violent essence of a street life, it has become practically impossible to purge him of always trivialising honourable and responsible political opposition platform that he has turned to the column of fools and plateau for jejune jesters.”

  • Ekiti civil servant commits suicide over unpaid salary, accumulated debts

    Ekiti civil servant commits suicide over unpaid salary, accumulated debts

     

    Tragedy struck in Ao Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Thursday as a civil servant Tope Afolayan, said to be on Level 12, committed suicide over unpaid debt.

    Afolayan, a native of Oye Ekiti, worked in the office of the Accountant General of the State until the incident happened last Thursday.

    He is survived by a wife, who is a teacher at a public school in Ado Ekiti and three children. Afolayan was also a final year Law student at the Ekiti State University (EKSU).

    The deceased was also said to be an interpreter at a Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) branch in Ekute area of Ado Ekiti.

    His colleague, who spoke on the condition of anonymity on Sunday disclosed that Afolayan committed suicide by hanging himself in the ceiling of his house, located on Peace Avenue, Olorunda, Ado Ekiti.

    Afolayan, who has since been buried, did not leave any suicide note before taking his life.

    He was, however, said to have consistently complained of failure to pay his debts because of the non-payment of arrears of salaries owed government workers.

    A source said: “Although he didn’t leave any suicide note before hanging himself, he had been very moody and heartbroken for a couple of weeks before the incident happened.

    “He had been complaining about the debts he owed which he was unable to defray because of the arrears of salaries. In fact, he was among the last batch of applicants for car loan but his name did not come out.

    “We are shocked by Tope’s death because nobody thought he would go to that extent, we are still mourning his death.”

    Police spokesman Alberto Adeyemi confirmed the incident which, according to him, was reported at New Iyin Road Police Station in Ado Ekiti.