Nigerian Gazette

Deputy National Chairman (South) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Segun Oni and other leaders of the party in his camp may have been placed under close watch over their closeness to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has formed a coalition to oust President Muhammadu Buhari. Source very close to the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, quoted him as saying today that; “We know that Engr Segun Oni will follow Obasanjo to anywhere he goes and with Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola coming out openly today at the launching of Obasanjo's Coalition Movement as its coordinator, it is certain that Oni is no longer with us. But we will be watching him and his men.” Fayemi was said to have informed President Buhari about Oni’s strong affinity with Obasanjo when he visited him alongside former Governor of Ekiti State, Chief Niyi Adebayo a few weeks ago. “Oyinlola’s presence at the launch of the coalition movement in Abuja has confirmed all our w...

There was drama on Monday at the new wing of the Senate complex in Abuja after a National Assembly official physically assaulted the senate deputy minority whip, Abiodun Olujimi. The incident happened shortly before the commencement of a public hearing of the committee on petroleum (downstream). Trouble started when an official of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) rode in the same elevator with the lawmaker, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. Lifts in the assembly are installed in pairs, one reserved for lawmakers (Senators and House of Representatives members), and another for other users. The senator was on her way to the petroleum committee public hearing while the PASAN member, who was not immediately identified, was to attend a meeting of his association. The PASAN meeting was in preparation for a strike which the association is about to commence, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. A witness said when the lawmaker saw the PASAN staff in the elevator reserved for lawmakers, she demanded...

Ekiti state Deputy Governor, Professor Kolapo Olusola has said that after being elected into office, he would follow in the footsteps and be greater than the outgoing Governor, Dr. Ayodele Fayose. The Deputy Governor stated  this while addressing the mammoth crowd at the Osoko Mass Movement rally held in Ado Ekiti in support of his governorship ambition. According to him the Governor is his father and one to reckon with. "I will be greater than my father Osoko and I will do greater than him" "Our Governor is the first leader and he never asked for any support but came as a bulldozer clearing the way. So I am assured that i have a supporter and a counsellor". Professor Olusola further assured his teaming supporters that his watchword would be the continuity agenda of the good works of Governor Fayose while noting that there is a need to sustain the excellent legacies that has been laid down in several sectors in the state. Commenting on the speech, Governor Ayodele F...

Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, former senator and daughter of Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, has urged the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to urgently focus on the contents of her father’s critical letter to Buhari asking him not to contest for election in 2019. According to Senator Obasanjo-Bello, she endorses the the content of her father’s open letter to President Buhari this time. x The academic based in the United State, also asked Buhari’s supporters not to use the once frosty relationship she had with her father to trend a letter written by her to her father in 2013. “I am surprised that agents of the current administration who should benefit from the advice and admonishment of one of the most brilliant leaders to ever emerge in modern Africa have resorted to a cheap tactic that further reiterates the message that they found abhorrent enough to start looking for unconnected issues to put together to make their point,” Dr. Obasanjo-Bello is quoted as saying...

The 10-man working committee constituted few days ago by the National Economic Council to end attacks by herdsmen has decided that every state should, by a rigorous consultative process with all stakeholders, design its own solutions. The committee, headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, comprises the governors of Zamfara, Kaduna, Adamawa, Benue, Taraba, Edo, Plateau, Ebonyi and Oyo States. A highly placed Presidency official privy to the activities of the committee, revealed to State House correspondents on Sunday that the committee had resolved that the Federal Government would not impose any solution on any states. The official disclosed that Osinbajo, at a recent meeting of the committee, assured that the Federal Government would certainly not impose its ideas on the states. The official, who craved anonymity, said the vice president noted that fears being expressed on the cattle colonies proposed to establish by the Federal Government were misplaced. He ...

Less than two weeks after releasing a white paper on the report of the Justice Silas Oyewole Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Finances of Ekiti State during the administration of the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi as governor of Ekiti State, the State government has filed criminal charges of corruption against Fayemi and his Finance Commissioner, Mr Dapo Kolawole. The 19-count charge HAD/05c/2018, in which Fayemi and Kolawole were accused of stealing, abuse of office, criminal contempt, among others was filed before the State High Court, Ado Ekiti on Friday, January 26, 2018. Fayemi and his Finance Commissioner were accused of misappropriating the sum of N4.9 billion being the proceeds of Ekiti State Bond for the sum of N20 billion earmarked in the Bond Prospectus for various projects in the State that were either not done or partly done. While releasing the white paper on January 15, 2018, the government had directed that the state’s Ministry of...

Barring any last minute change of plans, Deputy National Chairman (South) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Segun Oni may be among those on their ways out of the APC to join the army of politicians being gathered by former President Olusegun to form a coalition and oust President Muhammadu Buhari. Oni, who is presently nursing the ambition of picking the APC ticket to contest the July 14, 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State, was among those who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014 on the instruction of Obasanjo. The APC Deputy National Chairman is said to have started reaching out to some aggrieved leaders of the PDP in Ekiti State with a view to getting them to buy the idea of having what is called “the third force.” “Segun Oni is Obasanjo’s person 100 per cent and whatever he is asked to do by the former President is what he will do. Oni has said several times that if Obasanjo wants him as his gateman, he will willingly accept. “Therefore,...

Stephanie Otobo, the Canada-based singer who claimed to have had an affair with Apostle Johnson Suleman of Omega Fire Ministries, says she lied. Otobo said she was “heavily paid” by powerful politicians and some pastors to blackmail Suleiman. In a video trending online, Otobo made the disclosure before Suleiman’s church congregation in Auchi, Edo state. The singer also asked for forgiveness from the cleric and his wife. See the video below:

An Ekiti-based pro-democracy group, Ekiti Democracy Vanguard (EDV) has warned President Muhammadu Buhari against supporting the imposition of a candidate in the coming Governorship election in the state, saying “it will be resisted with unprecedented civil action ever to be seen in the state”. In a statement issued at the weekend, in Ado Ekiti , the State Capital by its Public Communication Officer, Iyabode Ogunleye,  the group lamented what it called  “obscene name-throwing by a governorship  aspirant who happens to  be a serving minister in the Buhari government that he has been anointed as the next governor by  the President.” The group expressed shock and disbelief that the President has allowed the conduct of the aspirant go unchecked, a situation that has  heightened tension within the State and which may further  jeopardise the chances of the All Progressives Congress (APC)  as a credible alternative to the misery caused the by ruling party, the PDP ,  in the state. Ogunleye sai...

The Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Kabir Usman, has attributed many of the security challenges in the country to the activities of President Muhammadu Buhari’s political opponents. According to Usman, the president’s opponents are uncomfortable with his “single-minded efforts” to positively reposition the country. A statement by the Governor of Katsina’s media aide, Abdu-Labaran Malumfashi, said the monarch made the assertion on Saturday when the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, in company with Governor Aminu Masari, paid him a condolence visit over the death of the former governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji Lawal Kaita. The Emir said, “Ninety-nine per cent of the security challenges this country is facing are caused by the enemies of the administration who want to discredit it and incite the people against it because of the good work it is doing.”

The Ekiti State Government has elevated 18 Vice Principals to the post of Principals. Also promoted are 7 Heads of Departments (HODs) to the post of Vice Principals. The Chairman of the State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Chief Abiodun Falayi on Sunday told NAN in Ado Ekiti that the exercise was based on merit. According to him, it is to fill the consequential vacancies left as a result of the retirement of some teachers of secondary schools in the state due to age limit or length of service. Congratulating the affected officers, the TESCOM boss charged them to remain dedicated to their duties and alert to their responsibilities. The Chairman said the government would continue to reward hard work and dedication to duty, while also not losing sight on punishing indolence and laziness. He noted that most of the elevated teachers would be transferred from their present schools to new ones. He directed the beneficiaries to ensure a smooth hand over that would not negatively affect ...

A White Paper released by Ekiti State Government has barred a former governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, from holding a public office in the state for 10 years. The state also barred his former Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Dapo Kolawole, for the same number of years. The duo were barred based on the report of the Ekiti Judicial Commission of Inquiry, which indicted them over alleged mismanagement of the state’s finances between October 2010 and 2014. Fayemi, now a Minister of Mines and Steel Development, was the governor during the stated period. The report declared them “as unfit to hold any public office in the state.‎” The Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by Ekiti State Government to look into the financial transactions of the state under the administration of Dr. Fayemi had said that the former governor must refund a sum of N2.75 billion allocated from the N25 billion bond obtained by the government for the execution of contract for the construction of Ultra-Modern market in Ado Ek...

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has presented over Seventy million naira cheques to nine communities for development of various infrastructural projects under the Ekiti State Community and Social Development Agency, EKCSDA. Presenting the cheques to the benefitting communities at the Government House Pavilion, Ado Ekiti on Thursday, the governor said the idea was to facilitate and fastrack development at the grassroots across the state. Represented by his deputy, Professor Kolapo Olusola, Mr. Fayose said some of the infrastructural projects to be developed in the communities include accessible roads, health centre, lock up shops, class rooms, viewing centres amongst others. He called for proper maintenance of the projects when completed with a call on the leaders of each community to ensure effective monitoring of the infrastructure when completed. Earlier, Manager of EKCSDA, Mr Steve Bamisaye charged handlers of the projects to ensure transparency in their dealings a...

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a terrorist group, the Fulani herdsmen saying they are deadly, mindless and ungodly. The governor made the call at the Ekiti State Government House Pavilion on Wednesday during a meeting with Ekiti Local Hunters and indigenes of Benue State resident in Ekiti. The governor who said he invited the Benue people to the meeting so he can sympathize with them over the gruesome murder of their people at home called on hunters and vigilantes in the state to rise and defend their fatherland. Mr. Fayose called for a minute silence in honour of victims of the Fulani herdsmen's wickedness. "It doesn't matter whose interest they represent, tell them my state is a no go area. Ekiti is a no go area!", he said. Stressing that He that is in him is greater than that he that is in the world, governor Fayose said "if the FG's plan is to make Ekiti State ungovernable ahead of the...

• Debola Akingbade   10/01/2018 The All Progressive Congress (APC) keep blaming PDP for their misfortune, as if Nigeria was better of before the 16years of PDP rule. I remember before the 16years of PDP, things were really tough and rough for Nigerians. I remember trekking a distance of about 10km to load sawdust that we would use to power Abacha stove. Kerosene and electric Stoves were for the elites, even at that, there was scarcity of kerosene. If you can't afford Gas cooker, Electric stove, Kerosene stove, or Abacha stove, you'll go for Firewood. Electricity 'NEPA' was not stable, people were forced to buy generators, which needed gasolines that were either in nonexistent or were exorbitantly priced. I remember that in the whole of Ado Ekiti, houses with Nitel Telephone lines were not up to 500, but that has changed, as 150Million Nigerians are now active telecoms subscribers, thanks to #PDP16Years. As at 1998, before Abdulsalam Abubakar increased minimu...

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has called on the Federal Government to put a permanent stop to the killings in Benue State by herdsmen, saying “what is happening in Benue and other middle-belt States is more than a strive between herdsmen and local farmers, it has gotten to the level of terrorism and ethnic cleansing. “Just now, we heard the news of the herdsmen attacking the camp of Mobile policemen, Mopol 13 in Benue, killing two officers by slitting their throats. Do you call people who could invade the camp of mobile policemen in a guerilla manner and overpower armed Mopol mere Fulani herdsmen?” Governor Fayose, who sympathized with the government and people of Benue State for the murder of 59 people last week, said President Muhammadu Buhari must take decisive steps to stop what he described as an attempt to wipe the Agatu and Tiv people of Benue state off the face of the earth. According to a statement on Tuesday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New...

Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi may have thrown his weight behind the threat by the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai to sack teachers that joined the ongoing strike in the State. He also reiterated that teachers competency test remained one of the major policies of the All Progressives Congress, APC, aimed at reviving education in the country. Dr Fayemi, who met El-Rufai in Abuja on Monday night was said to have saluted the Kaduna State governor for “being a man” and standing firm on his decision to revive education in the State through Teachers Competency Test. Teachers in public secondary and primary schools in Kaduna State began an indefinite strike action on Monday, over the sack of more than 22,000 of their colleagues. The strike was called by the state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT). The government however threatened to sack any teacher that joined the strike. A group of youths in the north, under the auspices of Northern...

Former Councilors in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under the platform of National PDP Ex-Councillors Forum have berated the All Progressives Congress (APC) governments, especially in Kogi and Kaduna States for throwing workers out of jobs instead of creating employments as promised by the party. The PDP Councilors described the sack of 1,774 workers by the Kogi State government and over 22,000 teachers by the Kaduna State government as wicked, calling the APC leaders to prevail on its governors to stop inflicting pains on Nigerians. In a release issued on Monday, by the National Publicity Secretary, Hon Sunday Ojosu, the former councilors said that the APC Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello choose to sack 1,774 and compulsorily retire eight Permanent secretaries, some Directors as a New Year gift to the people of the State. “It is sad to note that a party that rode to power by running fake electioneering campaign promises to Nigeria citizens including mouthwatering t...

•Says President lacks capacity to lead The Action Democratic Party (ADP) has said that Nigeria is likely to collapse if the All Progressive Congress (APC) government led by President Buhari returns to power in 2019. In a statement issued by the ADP Lagos spokesman, Prince Adelaja Adeoye in Lagos on Sunday, he noted that the country has been reversed two decades based on the largely analog and outdated approach to governance by Buhari. The recently released report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) where over 10 million Nigerians have lost their jobs since 2015 is a deal breaker for a government that promised Nigerians 3 million jobs a year. We now have an unemployment rate of 18.7% even though some claim that it could be more the party said. This is just in less than 3 years of this APC government and is a clear pointer to the danger that a Buhari return poses. The impact of Buhari’s maladministration is terribly telling on the citizens,” Adelaja noted. The party stressed furth...

Former PDP Social Media Employee, Mr Deji Adeyanju was sacked after internal assessment investigations revealed that he was involved in the trading of strategy data with the Buhari Media Office. Sources at the PDP National Secretariat said incontrovertible intelligence proved that Deji Adeyanju was secretly contracted to mismanage the PDP Social Media platforms. The party upon receipt of the intelligence, placed Deji Adeyanju under surveillance, PDP sources said. With confirmed data and facts that pointed to the unprofessional and unethical use of the party's social media handle for trading purposes, PDP Management sacked Deji Adeyanju. On several occasions, during the months Deji Adeyanju traded with the social media platforms , the Party leadership had to claim that the platforms were hacked. To avoid further embarrassment, the Party sacked him, hence he has turned against leaders of the Party, working with Sahara Reporters, Punch, Nation and TVC to circulate unbr...

The administration of Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state, has compulsorily retired eight permanent secretaries, some directors and dismissed 1, 774 others from the state civil service. The affected staff were served their letters last December. The letters were signed by Deborah Ogunmola, state head of service, and Ado Shaibu, chairman of the state Civil Service Commission. A copy of the retirement letter addressed to one of the affected permanent secretaries indicated that the retirement was “in the interest of the public”. Some of the affected permanent secretaries told NAN that they were contemplating legal action. However, Mrs Petra Akinti-Onyegbule, chief press secretary to Yahaya Bello, the governor, defended the action, saying it was part of ongoing reforms in the civil service.

IN 2017, Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Peter Ayodele Fayose, emerged this column’s “Man of the Year 2016,” beating other deserving personalities to the prize. The reasons for the award and the qualities that stood Fayose out were unambiguously stated. Awards such as this are meant to recognise and celebrate merit; and to encourage and promote attributes and qualities that serve society and the cause of humanity. They must necessarily be rewards for the heroics of individuals that, against all odds, rose above challenges and life-threatening obstacles to perform extra-ordinary feats without which individuals and society as a whole would have suffered untoward and or irreparable losses and our civilization as we know it today would have been imperilled. Therefore, awards are not to be traded in the open or black market or under the counter; they should not be given to the highest bidder or those willing to pay 500 or 200 thousand US dollars for them to “qualify” for such awards, which a...

The authorities of 6 Division Nigerian Army Port Harcourt wish to inform the peace loving people of Omoku in ONELGA in particular, Rivers State and indeed the entire good people of Niger Delta in general that the notorious cult leader, kidnap kingpin and mass murderer Don Waney is dead. Recall that in the early hours of Monday 20th November 2017, troops of 6 Division Nigerian Army acting on credible information from some patriotic members of the public raided the evil Don Waney enclave in Omoku, ONELGA Rivers State where shocking discoveries of assorted weapons, dynamites, bags of suspected cannabis, full military camouflage uniforms, military boots, military communication radios, 10 human skulls and human bones were discovered. Additionally, in continuation of the operation on Tuesday 21st November 2017, the troops also exhumed decomposing bodies of some of his victims in his shrine in the glaring eyes of the media who were invited to witness first hand. Perhaps not satisfied with...

In July 2012, clashes between natives and herdsmen reached a head in Plateau state leading to tens of deaths on both sides. Then President Jonathan, when briefed about the situation insisted that there wouldn’t be such impunity under his leadership and immediately ordered the army to go to the affected communities and fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book. The military immediately obeyed the then President’s orders and sent troops to Barkin Ladi Local Government Area. They ordered all residents to leave their residence for temporary accommodation provided for them so they could conduct a joint air and ground operation to flush out the armed herdsmen who had been suspected of killing innocent Nigerians. The residents complied and the soldiers went in and not only did they clear the area, they made arrests which led to trials. That is how a Commander-in-Chief acts. When your people are being slaughtered you don’t send them commiserations, like the frequent commiserat...

The 2018 Delta state local council elections, across the 25 council areas of the state, started out on Saturday on a violent note as unknown armed men set the State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) office in the Ughelli council Secretariat on fire. The situation was not less volatile in other council areas, especially in the Delta Central District. There were reports of violent attacks, leaving more than two persons hospitalised in Ughelli. There also reports of malpractices in the distribution of election materials, leading to mass resistance by voters in both Ughelli South and Udu council areas. Although the take off of the exercise in Warri South and Uvwie council areas was relatively peaceful as DSIEC officials and party representatives were seen going about the distribution processes, the situation in many other parts of the state was opposite. However, the chairmanship candidate of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) in Uvwie council area, Ufuoma Okenini, has r...