By Nicholas Kalu, Abuja

As part of efforts at ensuring effective coordination and full implementation of security arrangements towards a peaceful election in the October 10th, 2020, Ondo State Gubernatorial Election, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, has deployed DIG Adeleye Olusola Oyabade, Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Research and Planning to administer the general security arrangement for the election in the State.

This was made known in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, on Friday.

According to the statement, also deployed to assist the DIG are, AIG Karma Hosea Hassan, Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Federal Operations (FEDOPS), Department of Operations, Force Headquarters Abuja, and 11 Commissioners of Police.

“The Coordinating DIG, Ondo Gubernatorial Elections, has been charged by the IGP to bring his wealth of experience to bear by ensuring the due enforcement of all electoral laws throughout the period of the election. CP Garba Baba Umar will be in charge Monitoring/Evaluation and will be assisted by CP Habu Sani. Other Senior Police Officers deployed to handle other layers of security in the State are: CP Abiodun Alabi, CP Bishi Omololu, CP Ashafa Kunle, CP Akeera M. Yonous, CP Buba Sanusi, CP Audu Madaki, CP Evelyn Peterside, CP Sadiku Gbenga and CP Abutu Yaro.

Read Also: IGP condemns attack on security convoy in Borno

“Meanwhile, the IGP has warned that no Security Aides will be allowed to accompany VIPs or Political appointees on the Day of the Guber Election noting that severe punishments will be meted out to anyone who violates the order.

“Officers and men of the Force as well as personnel of other security agencies deployed for the election have also been charged by the IGP to conduct themselves professionally and work in line with best practices as highlighted in the Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement for Elections. He also enjoins members of the public, especially politicians and their supporters to cooperate with the Police and other security agencies in the national assignment of guaranteeing a hitch-free gubernatorial poll,” the statement read.

By Osagie Otabor, Akure

Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and his estranged deputy, Agboola Ajayi, yesterday renewed their hostilities ahead of next weekend’s governorship race with the governor saying the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) candidate was dishonest in his allegations of corruption against him (Akeredolu).

Ajayi accused Akeredolu of causing the underdevelopment of the coastal areas by alleged mismanagement of 13 per cent derivation earmarked for the region.

Akeredolu accused Ajayi of being a major contractor of the Ondo State Oil and Gas Producing Areas Commission (OSOPADEC).

The deputy governor, he added, is also a betrayer despite paying him N13 million monthly.

Ajayi, in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Allen Sowore, said the N13 million was not a gift for his personal use.

He said he used to collect N12 million monthly, which included imprest for his office, allowances of staff, fuelling of vehicles, care of his residence and welfare of his aides.

The Deputy Governor said it was nothing in comparison to what Akeredolu and his family collect from the state’s coffers on a monthly basis.

He said: “The governor gets a security vote of N750 million every month. He, Akeredolu, also gets an imprest of about N150 million.

“His wife, though occupies no constitutionally recognised position, takes an imprest of N15 million per month. Apart from this, she collects an additional sum of N11 million from the Ministry of Women Affairs, which she runs like a potentate.

“Babajide, Akeredolu’s son, is also not left out in the pillage that Akeredolu and his family is visiting on Ondo State. He too takes a whopping N5 million monthly and rips off the state by taking unbelievable commissions as a consultant to the state on almost every imaginable area.

“All these are apart from millions and millions they get from inflated contracts awarded to family members and lackeys.

“Sadly, Governor Akeredolu has consistently dragged himself and the office of Governor through the mud of insouciance, discourtesy and disrespect.

“These acts of indecorum must stop. This is a notice to Governor Akeredolu that two can play the game. The Deputy Governor is of the view that indiscretion and vacuousness are attributes that should be alien to holders of high office.”

Governor Akeredolu denied all the allegations.

Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Segun Ajiboye, the governor said the N750 million security vote allegation was a true reflection of the unstable and treacherous content in Ajayi.

Read Also: ‘Why we are supporting Akeredolu’

He said:”The general public is urged to take advantage of the Freedom of Information Act to interrogate both statements by Mr. Governor and Ajayi.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the State Bureaucracy which processes such payments is very available to confirm the veracity or frivolity of either of the statements.

“The October 10 governorship election is between integrity and the absence of it. The patent greed which has provided motivation for the treachery and perfidy of Ajayi appears to have created further paths of dishonesty to oil his political misadventure. Succinctly, he is misled by his mind of greed.

“By his antecedents, Agboola Ajayi would have wittingly provided evidence of the payment of such huge amount even before now, if it was true.”

 

 

 

By Emmanuel Oladesu/Dare Odufowokan/Osagie Otabor, Akure

• Governors pile pressure on Mimiko over pact
• Alliance is doomed, APC sure of victory – Commissioner
• Police deploy DIG, AIG 11 CPs to coordinate operations
• Military destroy militants’ camps in riverine areas

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) appear to be facing an uphill task in forging an alliance ahead of next weekend’s governorship election in Ondo State.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), which is the target of the uneasy pact, declared yesterday that it was unruffled by the talks between the two opposition parties.

The APC dismissed it as a reactionary contraption that will not work.

Some PDP governors, including Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, are said to be piling pressure on former Ondo State governor Segun Mimiko to make the alliance work.

A former attorney general and justice commissioner of the state, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, is running on the platform of the PDP while the incumbent deputy governor Agboola Ajayi is the standard bearer of the ZLP.

Ajayi first defected to the PDP from the APC and then switched to ZLP after failing to get the PDP governorship ticket.

Sources said PDP does not trust Ajayi.

Jegede in particular is ambivalent about any pact with ZLP, since the terms or conditions would make certain concessions to ZLP inevitable and burdensome.

However, Ajayi is enthusiastic for three reasons, one of which is the weak presence of his party in the state.

The ZLP is weak and incapacitated by its lack of structures in all the 18 local governments.

Ajayi, according to sources, sees alliance as a face saving device for him.

His calculation is also that if Jegede garners more votes from the Central Senatorial District and ZLP puts up a strong showing in the South, the alliance may defeat the APC.

While majority of PDP leaders agree that collaboration may swing the pendulum in favour of the party, Jegede is said to be uncomfortable with the e fact that Ajayi will be a factor in the alliance and the ultimate beneficiary in the ZLP.

Ajayi had contested the PDP ticket with Jegede, who instantly rejected pressures on him to make him his running mate, after his victory at the primary. The PDP standard bearer cited two reasons: Ajayi has established himself as a serial defector; he is also a disloyal deputy to Akeredolu.

The first consultation on alliance failed as Jegede, who is not a seasoned politician, held on to his grievances and distrust of Ajayi over the scramble for delegates at the shadow poll and the negative effects of his defection on the PDP.

Although PDP governors impressed its desirability on him, he was adamant.

A source said that reality dawned on Jegede last week that a helping hand was required from ZLP to narrow the contest into a two-horse race.

Wike, said the source, explained to him that any financial assistance to him by PDP governors on the election might be futile unless the PDP’s position was strengthened by the coalition with ZLP.

According to the source, Wike and Makinde maintained that PDP and ZLP in Ondo are the same.

Although Ajayi is pushing for collaboration, PDP leaders also considered the imperative of holding talks with Mimiko who lent the ZLP as election platform to the deputy governor.

Mimiko is confronted by two challenges: the rift between him and Jegede over how the preparation for the 2016 election was handled by the former governor has not been resolved; and the emotional gulf between them.

Mimiko is also said to have never perceived Ajayi as a formidable candidate outside APC and PDP, adding that the former governor has been attending Ajayi’s campaigns with reluctance.

The prospect of pact has energised Mimiko, who has intensified his criticism of the Akeredolu administration, in spite of his input into the administration in terms of appointments.

The source said prominent PDP leaders, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, reached out to Mimiko on the need to close ranks with the PDP. His media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, however, denied it.

A source close to Oyo State governor said Makinde, Wike and other governors are still mounting pressure on Ondo PDP and ZLP to combine strength.

A source said Obsanjo’s intervention and that of the PDP governors was engineered by Makinde.

There is apprehension in the PDP that the presence of Ajayi in the race is altering permutations ahead of the election.

“That is why there is unending pressure on the ZLP and its candidate to ease out of the race and back Jegede,” a source said on Friday.

The source added: “Our governors will again meet Mimiko. Personally, Jegede has been communicating with his erstwhile political leader, the former governor. A lot has been discussed but a lot still needs to be put on the table.”

Mimiko and Ajayi are said to be keeping members of the ZLP guessing about the talks.

”In spite of the wide rumour about these alliance talks, our leaders have neither confirmed nor denied the reports. This has kept many party chieftains and members guessing as to what is likely to happen,” a ZLP chieftain said last night.

The Nation gathered that Mimiko may be seeking more commitment and assurance from the PDP and those reaching out to him before committing himself and his party to the alliance.

The contraption will not work, says commissioner

Reacting to the PDP/ ZLP alliance talks yesterday, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr.Donald Ojogo, said it was “a reactionary contraption that will not work.”

Contacted by The Nation on the matter, Ojogo said: “It was obviously motivated by greed and selfishness, oiled by ego driven contents and driven by bitterness.

“Those whose aims are not altruistic are bound to fail and get further decimated in their numbers.

“Like it happened in 2016, the combination of PDP and ZLP has hit the rock even before the contest.

“Here is a two way front that represents the worst in the history of our state. For the PDP, the symbol represents and, indeed, presided over the sack of over 10,000 workers.

“The personality dissuaded the government from accepting the lauded Dangote Refinery and today, Lagos has benefitted immensely.

“For the ZLP, its symbol and patrons, we cannot return to Egypt. Never again shall the good people of Ondo State return to the days of unpaid salaries, government of family.”

An APC source said the party was set for victory as the people “appreciate what Akeredolu has done and want to vote for him for a second term in office.”

Military destroys militant camps to ensure violence-free polls

To ensure a violence free election, security agencies in the state, including the military, have destroyed militant camps in the riverine Ilaje and Ese-Odo areas of the state.

Personnel of the Army, Navy, Police, Immigration Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) effected the destruction of the camps at Igbokoda, headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area and Atijere, Abereke, Agadagba, Obolowo, Aserebobo, Arogbo, Dioba, according to the Commander, 32 Artillery Brigade, Brigadier General Zakari Abubakar.

Abubakar said the move was to warn hoodlums and militants in the creeks “that we are ready.”

He added: “We want to ensure that the election is free and peaceful and make sure that hoodlums don’t interfere.

“The places visited lead to Delta and Ogun states and they will be coming. But I want to assure you that wherever they come from, we will give them blocking force.”

He advised hoodlums on the waterways to shun all forms of violence and intimidation before, during, and after the election.

 

Osagie Otabor, Akure

By Osagie Otabor, Akure

Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has said he ignored warnings about his deputy, Agboola Ajayi and ensured he was well paid to make him comfortable.

He said he gave him free hands to operate but was later betrayed .

The governor, who spoke at a radio programme in Akure, said his deputy does not want to be patient.

“No deputy governor has collected what he was collecting in the history of the state. I gave him N13million monthly. His predecessors did not collect as much as that. No deputy governor collects as much as that in Nigeria. I gave him enough room to operate, yet he betrayed me.”

 

By Osagie Otabor, Akure

ONDO State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has raised the alarm over alleged plans by his deputy, Agboola Ajayi, to militarise Ilaje Local Government during the October 10 governorship election.

He said the plan was aimed to intimidate the people and discourage them from coming out to vote with a view to giving the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) a conducive atmosphere to rig the election in favour of Ajayi.

Akeredolu, who spoke through the spokesman for his campaign organisation, Olatunde Richard, said Ilaje people were determined to vote massively for the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure their son, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, his running mate, is voted into power.

He said the people must be allowed to exercise their franchise without intimidation or fear on the election day.

The governor said: “This dubious plan by the ZLP should not only be condemned, but prevented from happening.

“While we are calling on the security agencies to intervene and save Ondo State from electoral violence and deliberate intimidation, we urge our supporters across the state, particularly the people of Ilaje, to remain calm, but say no to intimidation and evil plans by the ZLP and their cohorts.

Read Also: ‘Why we are supporting Akeredolu’

“We trust that the security agencies, particularly the military, will be above board and discharge their duty as an unbiased actor.”

The Chief Press Secretary to Ajayi, Babatope Okeowo, said it was the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that had been engaging in violence at their campaigns.

He urged Akeredolu to explain what he has done for the riverine areas in the last three and a half years.

Okeowo said: “They are jittery of the fact that they have lost the governorship election. Why Ilaje Local Government Area? APC is threatened by the growing popularity of ZLP and its candidate in the council. How do you expect the people to support a government that siphoned OSOPADEC funds and abandoned the people in darkness for four years?

“I implore security agencies to investigate the ruling party and prevent any attempt to foment any ploy by APC to cause crisis and rig the election on that day.

The people will speak with their votes and vote for ZLP and Agboola Ajayi. “