TheNewsGuru

Tag: Makinde

  • Why I will continue to visit Aso Rock – Oyo gov, Makinde

    Why I will continue to visit Aso Rock – Oyo gov, Makinde

    Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde has revealed the real reason he visited President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Aso Rock in Abuja.

    Makinde who spoke on Friday said he will continue to go to Aso Rock to push for a refund of the money his administration spent on the roads in Oyo.

    The Governor made this disclosure while flagging -off the dualization of Akobo Ojuirin/Odogbo Barracks to Olorunda Abaa junction by N O Idowu Comprehensive College in Ibadan.

    G-5 governors on the platform of PDP were in Aso Rock on Thursday to visit Tinubu.

    Following a backlash, the Oyo State Governor has, however, insisted he will continue to go to Aso Rock to seek a refund of money spent on federal roads in the state from the President.

    Makinde said, “I will continue to go to Aso Rock to push for the refund of the money we spent on the roads. The Chairman of Lagelu, if you continue to come to us, I will continue to go to Aso Rock for a refund.

    “Let me announce that Idi Ape to Olorunda Aba has been named as Governor Nyesom Wike Road. The road that stretches from Idi Ape to Olorunda Aba.

    “The people of Olorunda Aba, you have endured but relief is here. Any property that will go, we will promptly pay the compensation. The road will be completed within 12 months”.

  • G-5: We’ll continue meeting Tinubu on how to move Nigeria forward -Makinde reveals

    G-5: We’ll continue meeting Tinubu on how to move Nigeria forward -Makinde reveals

    Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo has revealed that the G5 otherwise known as the Integrity Group visited President Bola Tinubu to brief him on the latest happenings and the group’s stance on fairness, equity and justice in the country towards moving Nigeria forward.

    Makinde, who was flanked by the four other members of the group who are now immediate past governors, further acknowledged that nation-building is a difficult task and demands constant evaluation.

    The G5, according to him, will keep meeting with the President on the way forward for the country.

    Briefing State House correspondents, the Oyo governor said, “Nation building is a very difficult task. You have to keep evaluating, you know what you’re doing, where you’re going. So, we have to keep seeing the President, you know, to let him know what is happening.

    “The G-5, the Integrity Group, came to let the President know what we stood for fairness, justice, and equity.

    This is the third time that Makinde would be visiting the President with some members of the group in the last one week.

    In attendance at the meeting alongside Makinde were four former governors within the party. They included former Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu).

    The current governor of Enugu, Peter Mbah was also present.

  • Police recover 10 guns, other weapons at Auxiliary’s hideout

    Police recover 10 guns, other weapons at Auxiliary’s hideout

    The Police Command in Oyo State says it has recovered additional weapons at Diamond Hotel, a hideout allegedly being used by the wanted former Chairman of Oyo Park Management Disciplinary Committee, Mukaila Lamidi, aka Auxiliary.

    The command’s spokesperson, SP Adewale Osifeso, disclosed this in a media briefing at the command’s headquarters, Eleyele, in Ibadan on Friday.

    Osifeso said the weapons were recovered upon execution of a search warrant on Wednesday at the hotel owned by Lamidi, who had since been declared wanted by the police.

    Weapons recovered, according to the spokesperson, include 70 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 400 cutlassses. 400 pieces of live cartridges, 13 pieces of 9-MM ammunition and one pump action rifle.

    Others weapons include nine locally made pistols, nine jack knives, three axes, three swords among others.

    According to Osifeso, further investigation into the matter is ongoing.

    The police had on Tuesday raided the same hotel, arresting 78 members of the Park Management System (PMS) loyal to Auxilliary.

    During the raid, 724 cartridges, guns and other weapons were found in their possession.

    Meanwhile, the command has arrested a 39-year-old suspect, who had been on the watchlist of the command, for sales and distribution of drugs.

    Osifeso said that the man was sighted and arrested during the raid, and had on him 336 wraps of Indian hemp, 450 wraps of skunk and plastic bags containing Colorado.

    According to the spokesperson, the suspect had voluntarily confessed to the crime, identified his distribution network and clients in Lagos, Oyo, Osun and Ogun.

    The suspect, Osifeso said, would be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) upon completion of investigation.

  • Oyo guber battle: Makinde survives round one as Tribunal upholds his election

    Oyo guber battle: Makinde survives round one as Tribunal upholds his election

    The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, has upheld the re-election of Governor Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The governorship election was held on Saturday March 18 and the result was declared on Sunday March 19, 2023. Makinde polled a total of 563,617 votes to defeat his closest rival, Senator Teslim of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 251,230 votes. Chief Adebayo Adelabu of the Accord came a distant third, polling 38,757. But Folarin and Adelabu did not file any petition against Makinde before the tribunal.

    The tribunal in a unanimous ruling on Friday, read by Justice Ejiron Emudainohwo, and supported by Jutices Baraka Wali, and I.S. Galadima, dismissed the petition filed by the AA governorship candidate, Babatunde Ajala, and awarded a cost of N600,000 against him.

    The tribunal awarded a cost of N100,000 in favour of INEC, and N250,000 each in favour of Governor Makinde and PDP. INEC had asked for a cost of N300,000, while counsel to Makinde asked for cost of N5million, and PDP also demanded a cost of N3million. But the petitioner’s counsel pleaded for forgiveness from senior legal counsel and the panel.

    In the petition, INEC was the first responded, while Governor Seyi Makinde was the second respondent. The PDP was the third respondent. A legal luminary, Otunba Kunle Kalajaiye (SAN) held brief for Governor Makinde, while Mr. Isiaka Olagunju (SAN), was the counsel for PDP.

    The lead counsel to Ajala, Mr. Etibo Orowo King, had withdrawn the case before the judgment was delivered, saying the petition was withdrawn in order not to disrupt the current peace in the state, saying: “It was not a judgment. It was a ruling on our application to withdraw our petition. We actually withdrew the petition in the interest of justice, peace and tranquility in Oyo State. This is why the panel dismissed our petition based on our application for withdrawal.”

    Kalejaiye had told the panel before the judgment was read that it should reflect in their judgment that the Electoral Act should be amended to have a threshold that any candidate that did not score a particular number of votes should not be eligible to raise a petition against the winner of the poll. But the panel asked him during te hearing if the request would not infringe on the fundamental human rights of the candidates. And Kalajaiye said he said that to push for the amendment of the Electoral Act. But in the unanimous ruling, the panel said the request would be sent to the National Assembly.

    The PDP counsel also supported the move for the amendment of the Electoral Act to reflect a threshold for eligibility to file petitions before election tribunals.

    Speaking with journalists after the judgment, Kalejaiye said: “It was the final end of the petition brought by Action Alliance against the emergence of Governor Seyi Makinde in the March 18 election. The petition was essentially to ask for rerun of the election on the basis that the candidate that was cleared for the election was not the candidate that was filled for the candidate of that election and the petition was filed, and we have responded to the petition, only for us to come this morning and find out that the party and the candidates claimed that they have looked at the petition again and they are not sure that they will succeed and they brought an application to withdraw the petition.

    “We are convinced that it was when they saw our response to the petition that they made up their minds on the unavailability of the petition because we attached our petition on 18 grounds and that comminated into what happened today. The tribunal has dismissed the petition and has awarded cost against Action Alliance (AA).

    “But there is one thing that is very clear which I made to the tribunal. Candidates, and political parties, who performed abysmally in an election should not be allowed to come to court to waste judicial time. Where a political party only scored 387 votes, and challenged a person, who scored 563, 617 votes in all the 33 local governments, is a waste of judicial time.

    “The electoral act needs to be amended to create a threshold that if you have not scored at least a quarter, or 25 per cent of all the total vote cast in a state, you should not come to the election tribunal. Three judges have left their jurisdictions to come and sit for a petition that is dead on arrival. So, only serious petitioners will have access to court. This is a call for the amendment of Electoral Act.”

  • Why Accord party supported Makinde’s re-election – Shina Peller

    Why Accord party supported Makinde’s re-election – Shina Peller

    Mr. Shina Peller, Accord Party member, House of Representatives from Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa federal constituency, Oyo State, says his party’s support for Gov. Seyi Makinde’s re-election during the last general election is in the interest of the people.

    Peller disclosed this on Saturday at the Accord stakeholders’ meeting held in Ibadan.

    Peller, the Accord Senatorial Candidate for Oyo North Senatorial District, had supported Makinde, the governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He said the party had to review its performance after the 2023 general election, which saw the need for a coalition with the PDP governorship candidate in the interest of the people.

    “We came out of an election without winning any of the three Senatorial seat and 14 Rep seats. We are a third force party, a new party for that matter..

    “We compete with APC and PDP, so the only thing we had to do then was to look for the best candidate out of the APC and PDP, and find a way of forming a coalition.

    “All the technicalities that have been put in front of our governorship candidate are facts, even our candidate did not win in his polling unit, these are very important facts that we must pay attention to,” he said.

    The lawmaker expressed happiness that his party were not blinded by political party ideology or religious sentiment, but putting into consideration the interest of the people.

    “We are happy that we are not blinded by our political party ideology, our religious interest, but putting into consideration the interest of the people.

    “I believe this is the most paramount interest that should be protected in the politics,” Peller said.

    Peller said that Makinde had done well for the people of Oke Ogun, by bringing developmental projects to the zone

    Also, Mrs Adebukola Ajaja, the National Secretary of the party, said that they have seen the future of the party, hence Makinde was supported for the re-election.

    ”We saw the future of Accord and felt we don’t want our people to suffer. There was a kind of coalition between executives and candidates at the just-concluded general election,” she said.

    Ajaja said that the meeting was attended by party leaders from each local government.

  • I’ve broken glass ceiling for youngsters – Oyo gov, Makinde

    I’ve broken glass ceiling for youngsters – Oyo gov, Makinde

    Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State says he has broken the glass ceiling preventing youngsters in the state from attaining whatever heights they desire with his re-election.

    Makinde said this on Tuesday in his address during a re-election victory celebration at Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resourt, Akanran in Ibadan.

    Makinde was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election in Oyo State by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC).

    The victory celebration was organised by the billionaire businessman, Chief Dotun Sanusi, at the mini stadium of his expansive Ilaji Hotels and Sport Resort.

    The governor said that his re-election was aided by certain circumstances, coupled with his sterling performance in office.

    Makinde assured the people of the state that his administration would not discriminate on the basis of religious, ethnicity and political affiliations in the distribution of democratic dividends to them.

    The governor, who thanked Sanusi for organising the mega party, appreciated other critical stakeholders that ensured his electoral victory in 31 of the 33 local government areas of the state.

    Makinde said that the level of political education of the electorate was high and the people did not allow godfathers to dictate to them.

    According to him, the campaign is now over, and It is time to forge ahead.

    “The task ahead is to continue the the good work and take our people from poverty to prosperity.

    ‘We will not discriminate against those who did not support us This will be a government for the people of Oyo State and the progress of Oyo State.”

    They governor said that they were building a state where everyone would have opportunities, irrespective of the son of whom they are.

    He said that young ones could now attain whatever position they desired.

    “I want our youngsters to take notice of this. There is no more glass ceiling in Oyo State. Seyi Makinde has broken all glass ceiling.

    “I have broken the glass ceiling for the youngsters in the state. Our young ones can now attain whatever position they desire,” he said

    Sanusi, in an interview with journalists, narrated how he turned down offers to support Atiku Abubakar against the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu and Makinde as governor of the state.

    “I was called to support Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate during the presidential election, but I insisted on supporting Sen. Bola Tinubu of APC who is now the President-Elect.

    “I also stood my ground that I would support Makinde’s re-election. They said Makinde will not win because he refused to support Atiku.

    “But I was sure he would emerge because his performance was unprecedented during his first term as the governor of the state,” he said.

    The event featured prayer sessions for Oyo State and Nigeria by the various religious groups present as well as acrobatics performance by some students on Makinde’s personal scholarship.

    Among those in attendance were leadership of the various religious groups, traditional rulers, traders, artisans, people living with disabilities, Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) leaders, trado-medical practitioners and ace entertainers.

  • BREAKING: G-5 Gov, Makinde wins a second term

    BREAKING: G-5 Gov, Makinde wins a second term

    The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 18 poll in Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has been declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The incumbent governor defeated his challengers including Labour Party (LP)’s Akinwale Tayo as well as a serving senator, Teslim Folarin of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Makinde polled 563,756 votes to defeat his closest rival who scored 256,685.

    Makinde is the last of the PDP G5 or Integrity Group with an election. Already, Governors Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Samuel Ortom (Benue), who have been in office for eight years each, all lost their senatorial bid while Nyesom Wike (Rivers) who is also completing his second term as Governor didn’t run for any elective post.

    With the defeat of three of his comrades, all eyes were on Makinde in the March 18 poll. With his declaration as the winner by INEC, Makinde survived the defeat suffered by other G5 members.

    Governorship elections were held in 28 of Nigeria’s 36 states on Saturday. The governorship and state assembly elections were held a week later than initially scheduled after a court case forced INEC to move them forward.

    Eight of the 36 states — Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun, and Ondo — have governorship elections “off-season” due to litigations and court judgements.

    In alphabetical order, the 28 states where governorship elections were on March 18 are Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara.

    Of the 28 states, 11 serving governors including Makinde sought reelection while 17 outgoing governors are in the final weeks of their constitutional two-term limits of eight years, having been sworn in on May 29, 2015.

  • Makinde pockets 15 LGs announced by INEC in Oyo [See Results]

    Makinde pockets 15 LGs announced by INEC in Oyo [See Results]

    The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has won in 15 out of the 16 local governments announced so far by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The announcement of the governorship result is currently ongoing at Mutiu Agboke Collation Centre, Oyo INEC headquarters, Agodi, Ibadan

    Makinde, who is the incumbent governor of the state is seeking re-election.

    The result goes thus:

    1) Ona-Ara Local Government

    Accord: 1,212
    APC: 5,510
    PDP: 17,326

    2) Ibadan Northwest Local Government

    Accord: 1,291
    APC: 5,947
    PDP: 19007

    3) Ibarapa East Local Government

    Accord: 1,885
    APC: 7094
    PDP: 11,125

    4) Afijio Local Government

    Accord: 1,357
    APC: 5,588
    PDP: 13,139

    5) Atiba Local Government

    Accord: 1,113
    APC: 7,484
    PDP: 18,389

    6) Orire Local Government

    Accord: 1,895
    APC: 9,216
    PDP: 13,767

    7) Ibadan Southwest Local Government
    A: 2,270
    APC: 9,491
    PDP: 31,273

    8) Oluyole Local Government

    Accord: 1,386
    APC: 6,592
    PDP: 21,700

    9) Atisbo Local Government

    Accord: 1,188
    APC: 6,955
    PDP: 9,199

    10) Saki East Local Government

    Accord: 188
    APC: 5,519
    PDP: 8,374

    11) Surulere Local Government

    Accord: 271
    APC: 8,882
    PDP: 15,554

    12) Itesiwaju Local Government

    Accord: 2036
    APC: 4,597
    PDP: 8034

    13) Ogo Oluwa Local Government

    Accord: 50
    APC: 5,570
    PDP: 10,930

    14) Irepo Local Government

    Accord: 388
    APC: 9,785
    PDP: 7,193

    15) Olorunsogo Local Government
    Accord: 998
    APC: 4,851
    PDP: 5,838

    16) Ibadan Northeast Local Government

    Accord: 1,564
    APC: 8,486
    PDP: 29,396

    Source: VANGUARD

  • Labour Party adopts Makinde as Oyo guber candidate

    Labour Party adopts Makinde as Oyo guber candidate

    Labour Party (LP) in Oyo State on Sunday in Ibadan adopted Gov. Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as its candidate for the March 11 governorship election.

    LP chairman, Mr. Sadiq Atayese, told a news conference that the state’s Working Committee of the party believed in the emergence of Makinde, a candidate with character, competence, and capacity in the interest of the citizens.

    He said, however, that the electorate should vote for LP candidates at the state assembly elections.

    “Going by the results of the Feb. 25 presidential election and political realities in our state, it is obvious that no individual party can win the coming gubernatorial election single-handedly.

    “The main priority should be to ensure that citizens win through the election of a candidate that best serves their collective interests.

    “Against this backdrop, the right thing now is for parties and their candidates to form alliances with candidates of like ideology,’’ he said.

    According to Atayese, LP in Oyo State has decided to work with the candidate whose ideology tallies with its own in terms of security of lives and property, infrastructural development, food security, education, and human capital development.

    “It is of note that the present PDP administration under Gov. Makinde has presented its scorecard from the health sector with the provisions of Primary Healthcare Centres in every ward to security and others.

    “There is no doubt that his governance ideas in the establishment of Park Management System which other state now emulate has made him to be a leader with uncommon innovation.

    “From our evaluation as a party, Makinde has done well and we know that continuous development of a state is a function of stability in governance,’’ he said.

    Atayese stressed that there had been meaningful development in Oyo State in the last four years; hence, it was only logical that the good work should continue.

    “We have the responsibility to maintain the nobility of our heritage and we the citizens have to stand by it.

    “We took a thorough assessment of the various governorship candidates for the March 11 election in terms of character, competence, capacity and compassion for the people.

    “Gov. Makinde excelled the others; therefore, LP in Oyo state has decided to use its structure throughout the 33 local government areas to support his re-election for another four years of giant development,’’ Atayese stressed.

  • Stop claiming endorsement from Tinubu, APC warns Makinde

    Stop claiming endorsement from Tinubu, APC warns Makinde

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has advised Gov. Seyi Makinde and his supporters to stop claiming endorsement from the President-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu, ahead of March 11 governorship election.

    This is contained in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, on Thursday in Ibadan.

    According to reports, there have been insinuations from the Government House that Makinde played key role in the victory recorded by Tinubu in the state on Feb. 25.

    The APC spokesperson described the claims by Makinde that he had been endorsed by Tinubu as “an height of desperation and insincerity”.

    Sadare queried the rationale behind the insinuations about Makinde being responsible for the delivery of all the three Senatorial and eight House of Representatives seats to the APC with two pending.

    “Those behind the wicked rumour are some unscrupulous elements whose motive is to mislead the public and attract undue sympathy from certain quarters outside the state.

    “To set the record straight, Oyo PDP did its best to secure victory for all its candidates at the Feb. 25 election.

    “But, they failed simply because Oyo APC was far ahead of them in terms of preparedness, human resources and strategy.

    “We, therefore, challenge Makinde or any of his agents to present any evidence of the purported agreement or deal between them and Tinubu, if they are truthful,” he said.

    Sadare said the only thing they harmed with was the courtesy visit which the APC presidential candidate paid to the Agodi Government Secretariat on the day of the presidential rally.

    He said that such courtesy visit happened because a statesman like Tinubu could not pay an official visit to any state without paying a courtesy visit to the sitting governor.

    “The truth of the matter is that the five aggrieved PDP Governors were naive and lacking in political strategies.

    “Gov. Wike was the only one among them who was courageous enough to assist Tinubu’s cause.

    “Wike did not do at the expense of his PDP as all the National Assembly candidates of the APC failed in his state.

    “In the case of Oyo, there was no report of any serving political office holder or appointee of the PDP who mobilised for Tinubu or any other APC candidate at the poll,” he said.

    Sadare said that the PDP candidates were able to win in about four federal constituencies and such indicated that they approached the election with all seriousness.

    He said, “the lies about a deal with Tinubu can’t fly because the president-elect is a core progressive and democrat who can never engage in a
    anti-party activities.”

    According to Sadare, Folarin, if elected governor, would ensure prompt and full payment of salaries and other entitlements due to the public servants and pensioners. He will make life easier for all and sundry.

    “If Gov. Makinde had done well in the last four years, he would not have to be paranoid to face the electorate again as he seeks re-election,” Oyo APC said.