TheNewsGuru

Tag: Kwara State

  • 2023 Election: APC bigwigs disclose state to kick off campaign

    2023 Election: APC bigwigs disclose state to kick off campaign

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has disclosed the state to officially kick off presidential campaign.

    According to party bigwigs (name withheld) on Friday, the party chose Ilorin, Kwara state capital as the official port to launch its campaign.

    The source, one of Tinubu’s loyalists, told newsmen that the presidential candidate and the stakeholders agreed on the North Central in general and Ilorin specifically.

    The closed-door meeting, held for about three hours at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, witnessed heavy traffic and security presence.

    In attendance were National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led NWC; Tinubu’s running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima; Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Atiku Bagudu; Deputy Director General of the PCC, Adams Oshimhole; Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje; Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila among others.

    Though a spokesperson for the Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, told journalists after the meeting that a ‘region’ had been selected for the campaign launch, he was unwilling to divulge it.

    He said, “We have agreed on the region to begin the campaign but I am not going to say that now. We have also addressed all the basic issues because we want to carry the leaders of the party along. For now, no date has been chosen (for PCC inauguration). But we will announce that sooner than you think.”

    Asked why the APC stakeholders and the candidate had yet to reach a decision on an appropriate date for both the campaign and PCC inauguration, Keyamo admitted that a definite date had not been agreed upon.

    According to him, political campaign has to involve a conscious and calculative strategy to ensure no stone is left unturned.

    But the source, one of Tinubu’s loyalists, told our correspondent that the lot fell on Kwara State after careful permutation.

    He said, “The candidate and the stakeholders deliberated consciously on the issue, considered the odds before they finally agreed for the choice of North Central in general and Ilorin specifically.

    “It will be the starting point for our campaign before we spread into other areas. But the date has not been agreed on.”

    When contacted on Friday to reconfirm if the campaign is truly launching from Ilorin, both Keyamo and the PCC Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, were hesitant on revealing details.

    They neither confirmed nor debunked the report.

    Keyamo said, “We cannot confirm anything now. Though it is not a disclaimer, there is no official release on that.”

    Onanuga’s position on the issue was also not different.

    “Why don’t you wait? The party will announce it. I cannot confirm anything to you on this. You guys (media) should wait for us to unveil the manifesto and the PCC this week. That’s what we plan to do first,” he stated.

  • Kwara Assembly passes N187.2bn Revised Supplementary budget

    Kwara Assembly passes N187.2bn Revised Supplementary budget

    The Kwara House of Assembly has passed the N187.2 billion Revised Supplementary budget estimate forwarded by Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

    The revised fiscal policy was passed after considering the report of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation on “Revised Suplementary Appropriation 2022 Bill”.

    The report was submitted by the Chairman of the committee, Mr Ibrahim Ambali (APC-Owode/Onire).

    Ambali noted that the approved Revised Budget Estimate was against the sum of N187.5 billion initially proposed, indicating a decrease of N308.3 million.

    He said Capital Expenditure is now N86.9 billion against N89.3 billion originally proposed, while proposed Recurrent Expenditure stands at N83.7 billion against the sum of N81.6 billion as total debt servicing N16.5 billion is retained as proposed.

    The 2022 revised suplementary budget estimate was read third time by the Clerk of the House prior to its eventual passage.

    The Speaker, Mr Yakubu Salihu, directed Clerk of the House, Hajia Halimah Kperogi, to produce a clean copy of the Revised Budget Estimate for the governor’s assent.

  • Doctor kills girlfriend, buries her in his office in Kwara

    Doctor kills girlfriend, buries her in his office in Kwara

    The Police Command in Kwara State has confirmed the arrest of the Chief Medical Director of Kaiama General Hospital, Dr Adio Adebowale in Edo State after he allegedly killed his girlfriend and one other lady in Kwara.

    This was contained in a statement issued by the Command Spokesman, Ajayi Okasanmi, on Sunday in Ilorin.

    The statement disclosed that on the assumption of office as Commissioner of Police Kwara, Paul Odama, while going through some petitions written by some citizens, came across a reported case of one missing lady named Nofisat Halidu in Kaiama Local government area of the state on Nov. 21, 2021.

    “Based on the commissioner’s directive, an investigation into the case began and the Police worked on an information based on the arrest of one Dr Adio Adebowale in Edo.

    “The lead information had indicated that the suspect, after his arrest in Edo, had confessed killing one Ifeoluwa, his girlfriend who was declared missing in Tanke area of Ilorin in 2021.

    ”The investigation led the team to Kaiama general hospital where the suspect worked as the Chief Medical Director.

    “The suspect’s office was forced opened and a decomposing corpse of an unidentified female body was found buried in a shallow grave,” the spokesperson said.

    The statement added that further search of the office led to the opening of a trash can where another body of a lady later identified as the missing Nofisat Halidu, identified by the husband, Mr Halidu and other members of the community, was found.

    In another development, the state police command has arrested two suspected kidnappers who allegedly abducted the traditional ruler of Owa Onire in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara, his wife and driver.

    The statement said the police tactical team, in collaboration with vigilante and hunters, rescued the abducted wife of the traditional ruler.

    The statement said that the duo were helping the Command in it’s efforts to rescue the traditional ruler and his driver.

  • Gunmen abduct traditional ruler, wife in Kwara state

    Gunmen in Kwara state have abducted the traditional ruler of Owa-Onire in the Kwara South Senatorial District Area of the state.

    It was gathered that the traditional ruler  was reportedly kidnapped alongside his wife and driver.

    The Police Public Relations Officer of the State police command, Okasanmi Ajayi, confirmed the development to newsmen.

    Okasanmi disclosed that two suspects have been arrested concerning the matter.

    He disclosed that the wife of the monarch had been rescued, while efforts were ongoing to rescue the two remaining victims.

    According to Okasanmi, the State Police Commissioner, Paul Odama, has dispatched teams of investigators along with the vigilantes to the scene.

    The spokesman said the Police will soon give a detailed report on the case as soon as investigation was concluded on it.

     

  • Flood claims seven lives, vast area of farmland in Kwara

    Flood claims seven lives, vast area of farmland in Kwara

    No fewer than seven persons have lost their lives in the flood disaster that ravaged some parts of Kwara state in 2022.

    Abubakar Yelwa, the Managing Director, Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission, HYPPADEC made this disclosure on Sunday in Patigi, Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State.

    He further explained that the riverine communities of   Patigi Local Government Area are the worst hit by the disaster in the state.

    According to Abubakar, 1,300 households and 2,800 persons were affected by the flood disaster.

    He further revealed that large hectares of farmlands and houses were also submerged in Patigi.

    The commission was in the area to assist the victims with relief materials.

    They  distributed  N50m worth of relief materials to victims of flooding in the state.

    The items distributed to the victims included 1,300 matresess, 500 bags of rice, 200 cartons of bath soap and 250 catons of detergents, among others to cushion the effect of the disaster.

  • Woman remanded in custody for marrying two husbands in Ilorin

    Woman remanded in custody for marrying two husbands in Ilorin

    A woman has been remanded in prison after being alleged of marrying two husbands in Kwara state.

    The woman whose name has been given as Awawu Haruna is presently cooling off in Ilorin correctional facility for taking the step to marry someone else while still married to another man.

    Haruna’s legal husband filed a suit against Awawu and her dad at the Kwara state family court.

    Sule disclosed that his wife married another man without the dissolution of their marriage.

    The man told the court that his father-in-law played a prominent role in his marriage with her daughter under Islamic law and rites.

    He revealed that Haruna’s father played a prominent role in facilitating her marriage with the other person whilst they are both still legally married.

    He further revealed that on August 6, 2022, the father-in-law, facilitated another marriage between his daughter and one Jemilu Bahause while the marriage contract with him was still subsisting.

    “Alhaji Haruna Danjuma who is the father of my wife Awawu, to conceal the illegality, relocated her daughter and the new husband, Jemilu Bahause to an unknown location and they have since been living together as husband and wife,” Sule told the court.

    Magistrate Abdulraheem Bello adjourned the case till September 26, 2022, for a hearing.

    Bello ordered the couple and the father-in-law to be remanded in the federal Correctional facility, Ilorin the Kwara state capital.

     

  • JUST IN: Nigerian musician sentenced to 20 years in prison

    JUST IN: Nigerian musician sentenced to 20 years in prison

    Justice Muhammed Sani of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State has convicted and sentenced a Lokoja-born musician, Onojah Emmanuel Samuel, and two others to 20 years imprisonment for offences bordering on cybercrime.

    Samuel was convicted on Monday, September 12, 2022 alongside Victor Atsumbe Kadiyamo, and Jejelowo Segun, after pleading guilty to separate count charges,bordering on internet fraud. They were arraigned by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

    The charge against Samuel reads: “That you, Onojah Emmanuel Samuel, sometime in May, 2022 at Lokoja, Kogi State within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court fraudulently impersonated one Richard Philips via your Instagram account linked to your gmail account: richardphilips6211@gmail.com with intent to obtain money from one Erika which you did obtain the sum of Eighty Pounds worth gift cards and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (2) (ii) of Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22(2)(b)(iv) of the same Act.”

    Following their pleas, counsel to EFCC, Andrew Akoja reviewed the facts of the cases and prayed the judge to convict and sentence them accordingly.

    In his judgment, Justice Sani convicted and sentenced Samuel to three years imprisonment on counts one and two, with an option of N100,000 on each count. The court ordered that the phone used by the convict to commit the crime be forfeited to the Federal Government.

    Kadiyamo was also convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment on counts one, two and three, with options of fine of N100,000 on counts one and two, while count three carried an option of fine of N54,194,680.00 In addition, the convict forfeited his phone and one Lexus car which he purchased with the proceeds of his unlawful activities to the government.

    In the same vein, Segun was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment with an option of fine of N500,000 . The judge, in addition, ordered the forfeiture of his Toyota Matrix car and phone to the Government.

    The convicts began their journey to the Correctional Centre, when they were arrested by operatives of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC for internet-related offences. Further investigations linked them with impersonation of foreigners. They defrauded both local and foreign victims in the process.

  • Seven female pupils allegedly defiled by principal in Kwara

    Seven female pupils allegedly defiled by principal in Kwara

    Seven female pupils of Hassanat Islamic College, at Tanke area of Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State, have been allegedly defiled by their principal, identified simply as Prosper.

     

    It was gathered that for a while Prosper, who is on the run, had been allegedly defiling the pupils, by using his influence as the principal of the school to threaten them against informing anyone.

     

    Traumatized by the illicit act, one of the pupils, who could no longer cope with the principal’s action, confided in one of the teachers of the school.

     

    In a bid to acquire concrete evidence linking Prosper to the crime, the teacher alongside other teachers of the school, commenced an investigation and was able to get other affected pupils to narrate their ordeals in his hands.

     

    During the investigation which took place between April and July 2022, the voice notes and erotic WhatsApp messages that Prosper sent to these minors were obtained.

     

    In some of the chats with the pupils on WhatsApp, Prosper wrote, “You are the sweetest lady I have ever go down and suck,” “When I dipped my tongue inside of you, how did you feel?” “Let’s f**k tomorrow morning baby, I know you are tired of your virginity.”

     

    According to one of the teachers, investigation revealed that the principal allegedly also perpetrated the crime at one of the victim’s parent’s house.

     

    The teacher said, “We got to know when one of the female students opened up to one of us in the first week of April. We knew innocent pupils should not be exposed to such sexual acts at such a young age.

     

    “But to get to the root of the matter, we knew it would take a lot of time. So, one of us started being friendly with a lot of female students and in the process, some of them started giving the teacher access to their phones.

     

    “They also showed the teacher WhatsApp messages and voices with the principal. The female students were close to the principal and we were able to get seven with evidence.

     

    “From one of the messages we had, he (principal) even went to the house of one of the victims to sexually abuse her. But he mostly perpetrated the crime on the school premises.”

     

    The teacher said the case was reported to the police but Prosper absconded after discovering about the internal investigation.

     

    “When we confronted him with the allegations, he denied them. But when we showed the facts, he admitted and promised to stop,”

     

    TheNewsGuru.com gathered that some of the pupils who were said to be within the age range of 14 and 16 had visited the nearest police station to make an official complaint against the fleeing principal.

     

    Prosper, who spoke from his hideouts, said, he was ashamed of himself and “I don’t know what to do. I have left Ilorin because of this.”

     

    The acting principal of the school, Ali Opeade, could not be reached for comment as his phone number was switched off.

     

    The state Police Public Relations Officer, Okasanmi Ajayi, when contacted, said, “I have reached out to the Divisional Police Officer as regards this case. I was told two children made statements at the station. The investigation is ongoing.”

  • 13 professors jostle for Unilorin VC job

    13 professors jostle for Unilorin VC job

    Thirteen university professors have been penciled down for the post of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, in Kwara State.

    The tenure of the current VC, Sulyman Abdulkareem will run to an end in October 2022.

    It was gathered that out of the 23 candidates that initially applied for the position,  only 13 were lucky to be shortlisted.

    The interview and selection process for the position is expected to come up on Monday and Tuesday this week.

    The 13 shortlisted candidates include: Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, (SAN), Professor Muhammed Olanrewaju Ibrahim, Professor Bashir Ademola Raji, Professor Olubunmi Abayomi Omotesho, Professor Ibrahim Ademola Katibi, Professor Mikhaila Olayinka Buhari, and Professor Ahmed Shehu Abdulsalam.

    Others are: Professor Hassan Ajisafe Saliu, Professor Suleiman Folorunsho Ambali, Professor Raheem Adebayo Lawal, Professor Abdulrazaq Akinola Alada, Professor Baki Toyin Abdulrahim and Professor Issac Abiodun Adimula.

    Out of all the 13 names penciled down only three will make the final selection process from which the president would eventually approve one.

  • 2023: PDP asks court to disqualify Kwara Governor

    2023: PDP asks court to disqualify Kwara Governor

    The PDP on Thursday prayed a Federal High Court, Abuja to make an order disqualifying Gov. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara from participating in the state’s 2023 governorship election over alleged certificate forgery.

    The PDP, in an originating summons filed before Justice Inyang Ekwo, also prayed for an order disqualifying the All Progressives Congress (APC) from fielding a governorship candidate in the poll.

    The party, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2022 and filed on Aug. 4 by its lawyer, Paul Erokoro, SAN, further urged the court to make an order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to delist the name of Abdulrazaq as a candidate of APC for 2023 Kwara governorship election.

    While the PDP is the plaintiff, INEC, Governor Abdulrazaq and APC are 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.

    The party asked whether by virtue of Sections 177 (D), 182(1)(j)  and 285(14) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended); Sections 29(2) and (4) of the Electoral Act, 2022, Abdulrazaq’s affidavit in support of his personal particulars (Form EC9) and the accompanying documents published by the INEC contained false information to aid his educational qualification to contest the 2023 governorship election in the state.

    The PDP, therefore, prayed the court to declare that “the West African Examination Council (WAEC) School Certificate attached to the 2nd respondent (Abdulrazaq)’s affidavit in support of personal particulars which bears the name ‘RAZAQ A. R.’ does not belong to the 2nd respondent, whose name as shown in FORM EC 9 is ‘ABDULRAHMAN ABDULRAZAQ’”

    The party further urged the court to declare that the WAEC certificate submitted by Abdulrazaq and presented by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to INEC was forged.

    The matter, which was mentioned on Thursday, was adjourned by Justice Ekwo until Oct. 5 for hearing.