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Tag: Oyo

  • Female Oyo pilgrim absconds in Jeddah

    The Oyo State Pilgrims Welfare Board says a female pilgrim, Ms Anifat Saheed, absconded in Jeddah during the 2019 Hajj operation in Saudi Arabia.

    Prof. Sayed Malik, the Chairman of Muslim wing of the board made the disclosure on Thursday, in Ibadan, during the presentation of the 2019 Hajj report to Gov. Seyi Makinde.

    He said she was one of the 914 pilgrims that took part in the 2019 Hajj from the state.

    According to Malik, the disappearance of Anifat was noticed when the board was preparing the last batch of pilgrims for their journey to King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah on Sept.1 and all efforts to locate her proved abortive.

    He explained that the board tried to locate the address of her guarantor in Sango Ibadan without success.

    “Up till this moment, neither her guarantor nor any of her relations have come to ask questions about her,” he said.

    The board chairman further disclosed that a total of N24,628,900.09 was refunded to the pilgrims before their departure to Saudi Arabia due to reduction in the Hajj fare.

    He called for the renewal of the rent of the Oyo House in Makkah with effect from January 2020.

    Malik urged Makinde to study the recommendations as contained in the report and act on them so as to have hitch-free operations in subsequent pilgrimage.

    In his remark, the governor commended the chairman and other board members for a successful Hajj operation in spite of the fact that process started before his administration.

    He assured the board that the recommendations would be studied and acted upon for smooth Hajj operation in 2020.

  • Osun, Oyo to meet on LAUTECH ownership crisis

    Osun, Oyo to meet on LAUTECH ownership crisis

    The Osun House of Assembly and its Oyo State counterpart, are now set to resolve the ownership crisis rocking the jointly-owned Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso and its teaching hospital, Osogbo.

    Mr Timothy Owoeye, Speaker, Osun House of Assembly, made this disclosure at the plenary session of the state Assembly in Osogbo on Tuesday.

    According to him, stakeholders and all other parties involved should maintain caution until the matter is resolved amicably.

    “The house will initiate a meeting with the Oyo State House of Assembly to find a lasting solution to the crisis, therefore, we urge caution on both sides.

    “We also urge all parties to stop the media war on both the social and conventional media.

    “The two visitors of the institution; the governors of Osun and Oyo states, will meet and visit the institutions to make sure the ownership matter is quickly resolved.

    “Workers at the institutions and people of both states are advised to remain calm as the Assemblies and the governors will work out a lasting solution to the crisis.

    “We have constitutional power to legislate on the ownership issue, and to review the laws and bills that established the institutions.

    “The House and the visitors have the power to resolve the issue; therefore, people should remain calm till we find a lasting solution,” he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the recent ownership crisis emanated from accusations and counter-accusations from the Oyo and Osun governments on their financial obligations to the institutions.

  • Police rescue 3-yr-old from suspected kidnapper in Oyo

    Police rescue 3-yr-old from suspected kidnapper in Oyo

    The Oyo State Police Command has rescued a three-year-old girl, Nimotallah Sulaimon, from a 39-year-old female suspected kidnapper.

    The suspect was paraded on Thursday in Ibadan at the police headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan.

    The police also arrested five suspected kidnappers who allegedly abducted the 17-year-old son of a herdsman, Shakiru Weti.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Shina Olukolu, said that the female kidnapper allegedly abducted the child in Olorunsogo area of Ibadan.

    “She was intercepted and when interrogated, she informed the police that she was in the area to beg for alms when she sighted the girl who was later identified as Nimotallah Sulaimon unattended to and strolling away.

    “She thereafter took her to the Muslim area of Ibadan where she resides.

    “Sequel to this, her neighbours at the sight of Oluwatoyin with the girl, challenged her and inquired how she came about the child.

    “She told lies that the girl belongs to her senior brother and his wife who had a conflict earlier that day and that was the reason she brought the girl to her house at Muslim Area of Ibadan.

    “The community members, who did not believe her story, reported the incident to the Divisional Police Headquarters in Ogbere, and after preliminary investigation, it was discovered that the child was abducted,” he said.

    Speaking also on the arrest of the five kidnap suspects, the commissioner stated that Weti was kidnapped on Sept. 17 and his abductors called on Sept. 22 to demand for N1million ransom.

    He said the ransom was paid after the suspects encouraged the family members to pay up.

    The commissioner added that the suspects were caught with the the ransom sum and the cell phones used in the transaction.

  • JUST IN: Tribunal upholds Makinde’s election as Oyo governor

    JUST IN: Tribunal upholds Makinde’s election as Oyo governor

    … dismisses Adelabu, APC’s suit

    The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ibadan on Monday, upheld the victory of Gov. Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Adebayo Adelabu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had filed petition against Makinde in the March 9 Governorship election in the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adelabu and his party APC challenged the declaration of Makinde by INEC as the winner of March 9 governorship election in Oyo State.

    Makinde polled 515,621 votes to defect his closest rival, Adelabu who had 357,982 votes while PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are also respondents.

    The petitioners said that Makinde was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes, adding that election was marred by over voting and failure to comply with the provision of Electoral Act.

    Adelabu, therefore, prayed the tribunal to declare him the winner of the election, adding that he scored the highest number of lawful votes or alternatively, the tribunal should nullify the election and order a re-run.

    The Chairman of the tribunal three-man tribunal, Justice Muhammed Sirajo who delivered the unanimous judgment said the testimonies of the ward and local government agents, called by the petitioners could, not be relied.

    According to the tribunal, the agents were not speak the truth but and only relied on what they were been told by the polling units agents

    He said that 32 pieces of evidence, out of the 69 witnesses called by the petitioners were hearsay because the petitioners were ward and local government collation agents while the remaining 37 were polling unit agents.

    Sirajo said that the petitioners called 69 witnesses and tendered 4,164 exhibits while the respondents called 15 witnesses, adding that said the testimony of an eye witness must come from the polling units agents who witnessed all that happened from the beginning to the end during the election.

    The tribunal said that the petitioners also failed to tender necessary documents that would assist members of the tribunal in proving ballot paper accounting.

    He said that it was not only the responsibilities of petitioners to tender documents but also to prove that the alleged irregularities in the election substantially affected the outcome of the election.

    Sirajo said that the petitioners failed to prove that the respondents were not validly elected by majority of lawful votes.

    “The petitioner failed to prove the allegation of non-compliance, non-accreditation, over voting and corrupt practices that would warrant the tribunal to nullified the election,“ he said.

    Sirajo, who said that the petition lacked merit and stood dismissed, awarded N200, 000 cost against the petitioners..

    In an interview, the counsel to the petitioners, Mr Akin Oladeji, said they would decide on next line of action after studying the judgment

  • How we’ll recover, spend looted funds in Oyo – Makinde

    How we’ll recover, spend looted funds in Oyo – Makinde

    Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has wooed banks’ executives to assist the government in ensuring that all looted funds in the state were recovered and used for the overall development of the state.

    He also vowed to recovered every bit of looted funds in the state, while such recovered loot should be kept in a special bank account for the use of the state.

    The governor made this revelation while playing host to the management of the Unity Bank Plc at Agodi governor’s office.

    According to him, the account will be made open to everybody to avoid the recovered money being looted again.”

    “We want to recover the money in a very transparent manner and for people to see what the present administration has done with the money recovered.

    ”People should know how money belonging to them is being spent. The state money seized from individuals by EFCC will be returned to the account,” he said.

    Makinde had on assumption of office discovered N1.2 billion being state money seized from a certain government official.

    He had since approached the EFCC to refund same to the state government; to support his administrative drive to reposition the alleged comatose education sector.

    While assuring that the state’s account with the bank would be used to save the looted money recovered from ‘wrong hands and accounts’, the governor charged the bank to also hold the state accountable because the government should not compromise the trust reposed in it by the people.

    He said that his administration was ready to foster a partnership with bankers, processors, agriculture and business experts to develop the state.

    ”Agriculture is one of the pillars that this administration rested on and that is the tool that is intended to be used to expand the economy, Making said.

    He assured the bank management that the government would not discriminate against it because it was not among the first big banks but would give equal opportunity to all partners of the government.

    Earlier, Mrs. Toyin Somefun, the Managing Director of the bank said that the purpose of the visit was to request for partnership with the new administration under Makinde.

    Somefun said the bank wanted to partner with the state in the area of infrastructure, education, and agriculture where it had significant milestones.

    She said that the bank was number one in Anchored Borrower Scheme, with the Central Bank of Nigeria, “with an exposure of over N60 billion intervention fund with CBN.”

    Somefun said that the bank had financed more than 500 farmers across various commodities such as rice, wheat, cotton, soya, and ginger.

  • Why Ajimobi pardoned lawyer jailed for killing husband –Ex-AG

    A week before the expiration of his tenure in May this year, the then Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, pardoned an official of the Oyo State Ministry of Justice, Yewande Oyediran, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for killing her husband, Lowo.
    Yewande, a lawyer, was in November 2017 convicted of manslaughter by Justice Muntar Abimbola of the Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan.
    Yewande killed her husband with a knife following a disagreement on February 2, 2016, at their residence in the Akobo area of Ibadan.
    The disagreement was said to have arisen after she accused her late husband of infidelity.
    However, a few days before leaving office, Ajimobi granted the convict state pardon.
    Speaking with PUNCH Metro on the telephone on Sunday, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state under Ajimobi, Mr Seun Abimbola, said the governor had the constitutional right to grant amnesty to any convict.
    He, however, said Ajimobi did not exercise the power arbitrarily as it was being insinuated.
    Abimbola said on the day the convict was pardoned, 49 other persons were also freed by the former governor.
    The former commissioner stated that a committee was set up to look into the petitions of 400 persons, who had pleaded for clemency.
    He said the committee comprised commissioners, officials of the Department of State Services and other government agencies, which advised the government.
    The former AG dismissed insinuations that the convict was pardoned because of her former position as an official of the state Ministry of Justice and the alleged influence of her family.
    Abimbola stated, “The issue of clemency by any government is a constitutional matter and the exercise of that power is not arbitrary. It is based on the recommendation of the committee on the prerogative of mercy.
    “The committee is chaired by the attorney-general and also has DSS officers, the police, the chaplain and the chief imam of the Government House, Legal Aid Council; Director, Legal Affairs; the Solicitor-General and the Director of Public Prosecutions as members. So, it was not an arbitrary decision.
    “The lady in question is just one out of 50 who were pardoned. And the 50 who were pardoned were drawn out of 400 who were considered. So, she was not singled out as some are insinuating. Even the prisons authorities brought recommendations on the good behaviour of those pardoned.”
    Abimbola maintained that Yewande had already served half of her sentence and the ex-governor decided to show her mercy since she was not convicted of premeditated murder.
    He explained that nine months in prison was equal to a year, adding that her sentence began counting from the day she was detained.
    The former commissioner added, “She was arrested in 2016 and her sentence started reading from the day she was arrested. A year in prison is nine months. She was not convicted of murder but of manslaughter. It was a fight between a husband and a wife, which resulted in death.
    “People should stop saying she killed her husband as if it was premeditated. The amnesty was not a secret one. We did it every May 29 and even the new governor pardoned convicts on June 12.”
    The decision of the Ajimobi-led government to pardon the husband killer has, however, sparked a debate on social media.
    Many argued that were the convict a man, he would not have been released so early from prison.
    Many male Nigerians stated that had it been a woman who was murdered, several feminist groups would have taken to the streets in protest.

  • Oyo is technically bankrupt, says Makinde

    Oyo is technically bankrupt, says Makinde

    Makinde made the declaration while receiving in audience members of the Governing Council of the University of Ibadan, led by the Pro-Chancellor of the institution and Chairman of Council, Dr Waklek Mutka, who were on a courtesy visit to his office in Ibadan.
    He said, “When I came in, we were looking for ways to keep the government running because technically the government of Oyo State is bankrupt.
    “If I take it as a private entity, I won’t lend a dime to the government of Oyo State. I will ask them to start winding up proceedings. So, we have been looking for ways to keep the government running.
    “We have been beaming our searchlight on areas we can get money. The Bureau of Internal Revenue came to me and said they had issue of PAYE with the University of Ibadan.”
    He added, “At the governor’s forum, I saw a document where many of the states got huge refund from PAYE due to the federal institutions located in such states. I believe Ogun State got about N8bn; another state in the South West got N10bn; and Oyo State got only about N91m.
    “Then, I wondered what was going on here. They told me there was work in progress and that they had been talking but did not have cooperation from the University of Ibadan.
    “I can give you the assurance that this is something for the Federal Government to refund to us. All we need to do here is open the books and see what has gone on and have an agreement. I told the chairman of Bureau of Internal Revenue that he and I will meet with the University of Ibadan to get money. We will utilise such money immediately to do things that will lift our environment.”
    Makinde, however, stated his administration’s determination to collaborate with the university in the area of Public-Private Partnership to create a synergy between the institution and the government.
    “The university is a very important member of this community. We will like to collaborate with the university, especially in the area of Public-Private Partnership and for us, there should be a serious synergy between the academia and the government because majority of very good research outcomes stay on the shelf in the university. We want those to come out for us to work together to utilise those research outcomes to better the lives of our people,” he said.
    Earlier in his remark, the Pro-Chancellor of the university and Chairman of the Governing Council, Dr Waklek Mutka, expressed appreciation to the governor for donating N25m towards the rehabilitation of facilities in the institution destroyed by rainstorm on March 9 even as a governor-elect then.
    “Your magnanimity is unprecedented and we believe the university will continue to enjoy the full support of the government. It is hoped that your administration will ensure that we have an environment that will guarantee peace and stability,” he said.

  • Oyo gov appoints Adeosun as SSG

    Oyo gov appoints Adeosun as SSG

    Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo state has appointed Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun, as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

    Adeosun was the Country Implementation Lead of the Shell Business Operations (SBO), Nigeria.

    Mr Taiwo Adisa, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, disclosed this on Friday in a statement in Ibadan.

    Makinde said: ”we are proud to attract Mrs. Olubamiwo Adeosun, a talented technocrat at Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to support me to drive our transformation agenda.

    ”Her appointment will enhance the realisation of the vision of embedding prosperity in Oyo State.”

    The governor described the appointment of the new SSG as being in line with his firm belief in women’s inclusiveness and diversity in government.

    Adeosun is from Oranyan area of Ibadan, in Ibadan North East Local Government of Oyo State.

    ”She obtained a degree in Pharmacy and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Benin in 1990 and 1997 respectively.

    Adeosun would be bringing on board over 26 years of diverse multinational experience, which has seen her hold lead roles in SmithKline Beecham (GlaxoSmithKline) and the SPDC.

    ”She has held multiple roles with local and global remits in the organisations.

    ”The new Oyo SSG is a full member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), Nigeria and a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), United Kingdom.

    ”She has also held various Lead HR Roles with specialisation in areas such as Business partnering, Talent Management, and Employee Relations.

    As an active member of the CIPM, Adeosun was involved in a foundation that is currently executing a programme for young leaders to imbibe leadership values of Integrity, Excellence, Empathy and Transformation.

  • Gunmen kidnap canteen owner in Oyo, demand N20m ransom

    Some unknown gunmen, suspected to be kidnappers, have abducted a canteen owner identified as Mrs. Folakemi Olufunmilayo, in Igbo-Ora, town in Ibarapa East Local Government Area of Oyo state.

    It was gathered that Olufunmilayo, who operates a food canteen along Igbo-Ora – Abeokuta Road, was Kidnapped on Sunday.

    The victim was said to have been whisked away around 10:30pm on Sunday.

    It was gathered that the incident occurred when the kidnappers swooped on the area, few minutes after he closed for the day’s business.

    Sources explained that the kidnappers announced their arrival and presence in the area with sporadic gunshots, which led to the injury of four people trying to scamper for safety.

    The family of the victim later reported the case to the nearby police station as the area became deserted immediately the news filtered into town.

    Meanwhile, it was gathered that the kidnappers had demanded the sum of N20 million for the release of the victim.

    The victim is yet to be released as at the time of filing this report.

    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the State Police Command, Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, who confirmed the abduction, insisted that the police patrol team are on the trail of the abductors.

    Fadeyi said, “A case of abduction: On 23/6/29, one Mrs. Folakemi Olufunmilayo ‘F’ Age 50YRS.

    “The owner of Hosanna Foods Canteen was abducted within her premises by her regular customer who could be recognised.

    “Police patrol teams are on the trail of the hoodlum.”

  • Oyo govt cancels mid term break for public schools

    Oyo govt cancels mid term break for public schools

    Oyo State Government, on Tuesday, announced the cancellation of the mid-term break, for the third term of 2018/2019 academic session, for public primary and secondary schools in the state.

    The announcement was contained in a circular signed by Mr I. O. Adeosun, the acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and made available to newsmen in Ibadan.

    The cancellation was as a result of many public holidays and strikes, which made pupils/students of public schools stayed out of classrooms for too long.

    The statement read in parts ” Students of public primary and secondary schools have stayed out of classrooms for a number of days.

    ”For the reason of public holidays and strikes, the midterm break for the third term 2018/2019 academic session, is hereby canceled.”

    According to the circular, the cancellation will give room for coverage of lost grounds, to the benefit of the pupils and students of public primary and secondary schools.