The 10km Okitipupa-Igbokoda Bye Pass road constructed by the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu administration will be commissioned tomorrow.

According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Richard Olatunde, the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-olu will commission the road at the Okitipupa end by 12 pm.

The statement further stated that the Okitipupa-Igbokoda bypass road is one of the numerous landmark road projects done by the Akeredolu administration across the State.

“The 10km Okitipupa-Igbokoda Road is a virgin road constructed to provide an alternative route to ease heavy traffic in Okitipupa town.

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“The essence of the road is to divert traffic from inside Okitipupa town and reduce vehicular movement through Okitipupa, particularly the market to Igbokoda.

“The Governor Akeredolu administration has recorded giant strides in road construction and other infrastructural development in the state since its inception in 2017.

“Over 274.11km of roads across the 18 Local Government Areas of the State have been completed while 120km are ongoing across the three senatorial districts.

“Among the completed roads awaiting commissioning are: 4.5km Agadagba Obon-New Ajapa Road in Ese-Odo Local Government Area; 3.0km Oke Igbo Township roads, Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government; 16.65km Ikaramu-Akunnu Oke – Agbe Road in Akoko Northwest Local Government Area, 1.6km Ikaro Township Road, in Ose Local Government Area, and rehabilitation and asphalt overlay of 32km Araromi-Alape road in Ilaje.” The statement added.

Gov. Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti has signed the N122.6 billion Ekiti State 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Bill into Law, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Oyebanji, while signing the appropriation bill in Ado-Ekiti on Friday, noted that the lawmakers have the capacity to solve their internal crisis, saying, “democracy allows for crisis but we must place the interest of the state above all interest.

“We should place the interest of the state and rise above internal crises for the progress and development of our state.”

The governor commended the elders and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state for the quick resolution of the crisis.

Read Also: Oyebanji promises better Ekiti roads

Oyebanji, however, pleaded with non-APC members in the state to leave the party alone, saying the crisis has been resolved.

He urged the lawmakers to ensure that before the end of the year, they conclude deliberations on the 2023 appropriate budget.

He described the lawmakers as fantastic and promised to do everything to facilitate harmonious relationships for the progress of the state

Earlier, the Speaker, Mrs Olubunmi Adelugba, said: “This supplementary budget demonstrates the resolve of the governor to place a high premium on accountability, probity, and transparency in government expenditure.”

Adelugba said the legislature would continue to accord the Oyebanji-led administration the necessary support for the re-engineering agenda.

“It is our collective determination in the house to join hands with you in preserving values through responsible and impactful legislation,” she said.

By Joseph Okwuofu, Ibadan 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer for Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency of Oyo State, Aderemi Oseni has vowed to put an end to years of poor representation, groaning, and suffering of the people when elected into the red chambers in 2023 election.

Oseni wondered how the people of the constituency have been coping under the burden of bad leadership, and its resultant effect on the masses,  just as he promised to change the narrative from the era of non-performing representation to one of developmental, result-driven, and people-oriented representation.

The APC House of Representatives candidate stated this while delivering a speech at the official flag-off/ inauguration of Campaign Council under the leadership of Professor Adeniyi Olowofela, during an event held at the City Palace Event Centre, Gbopa, Ologuneru , Ibadan yesterday.

Hundreds of APC leaders and supporters thronged the venue with colorful caps, T-shirts, and banners, carrying the portraits of the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Oyo State APC governorship candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin, Oyo South APC Senatorial candidate, Sharafadeen Ali, and other party candidates in the forthcoming 2023 election.

Among the dignitaries present at the well-attended ceremony are the Oyo State APC Chairman, Mr. Isaac Omodewu; APC governorship candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin; and members of the organized labour.

Others include the Post Master General of the Federation, Mr. Sunday Adepoju; the APC Deputy State Chairman, Alhaji Olaide Abass; the Director- General, Oseni Campaign Council, Prof Adeniyi Olowofela; former Minister, Police Affairs, Jelili Adeseun; Chief Timothy Jolaoso, APC leader in Ido; Alhaji Kamorudeen Ajisafe, Chairman, National Lottery Commission;  Alhaji Fatai Ibikunle; and  APC Oyo South Senatorial Chairman, Alhaji Mojeed Olaiya.

Speaking further at the event, Oseni hinted that his sojourn into politics was informed by the intense desire to liberate the downtrodden, the poor, and give hope to the hopeless.

“ By God’s special grace, I am an anointed servant of God and a preacher of the word, who through politics will bring about governance with the fear of God, huge positive results, impact, and transformational leadership to the good people of Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency.

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“My dear great people, I am on a mission to rescue and rebuild and that is why I am asking for the letter (your overwhelming votes) from all the good people of Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency, our revered royal fathers in the constituency, the community business leaders, the market men and women, the elites in the academia, the professionals, the students, the religious leaders, and the youths at large to vote and give your mandate (to me) to go and rebuild, to eradicate poverty, create wealth, confront bad representations, and fight for the right of both the young and old, male and female in my constituency. It is time for us to take back the glory of Ibarapa

East/Ido Federal Constituency! It is time for recovery! It is time for re-engineering! It is time to build enduring infrastructural legacies instead of painting dilapidating Schools,” he stated.

In his submission, the gubernatorial candidate of the APC, Senator Teslim Folarin who expressed satisfaction with the quality of people at the event, said the party is expecting 85% votes in Ibarapa in the 2023 general elections.

“I will neither talk about N7000 the monarchs are collecting every month nor the recognition the present government is not giving to both Christian Association of Nigeria and the Muslim societies.

“50 schools that were delisted in the state is a serious issue. It is expected of a responsible government to take responsibility which they are not doing. The school management that are suppose to be regulating the schools are no longer in existence.

“We need the prayers of the Pastors and Islamic clerics for us to be rescued from the mess and slavery we are in the state”, he stated.

Earlier in his address, the Director General, Oseni Campaign Council, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela paid glowing tribute to the APC House of Representatives faithful for his uncommon qualities and genuine love for the masses.

According to him, Engr. Oseni is imbued with unusual grace , and gifted from dunghill to reign with princes and kings , adding that such a man with milk of kindness is what the people needed to bring dividends of democracy to their door step.

“ The man, who has an unusual grace upon his life, the man whose hand of Almighty God has lifted up from dunghill to reign with Princes and Kings, the man with milk of kindness, the man whose political campaign is saddled with evangelism, the man who preaches liberation from poverty to wealth, the man who preaches deliverance from darkness to light, the man whose charity is second to none, the man bold but humble, the man who believes that if he can succeed you too can.

“A tireless worker, a prepared mind. This is the man who is saying “Come, please come and help me to win the race, come and help so that I can be of further help, I understand business world, I understand spiritual word but it is Only God and you that can help my aspiration to represent my constituency.” I join him to say please help us.

“ I need to state that Engr. Remi Oseni, is not only campaigning for himself as MHR Ibarapa East/ Ido but has vigorously been campaigning for the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of Nigeria, Senator Teslim Folarin as Governor of Oyo-State, Chief Sarafadeen Alli as the Oyo-South Senator, Raheem Idowu and Bayo Aderoumu as hounourable representing Ido and Ibarapa East State constuencies. The God that answers by FIRE, will answer his prayer,” he said.

The Oloso of Oso, in Akoko North-West Local Government Area of Ondo State, Oba Clement Jimoh Olukotun, has been abducted by gunmen.

Oba Olukotun was kidnapped from his palace around 10:15pm on Thursday.

Family sources said the abductors shot sporadically immediately as they gained access to the palace.

The sources said the gunmen fired shots at the door to break into the Oba’s room after the occupants refused to open the door.

Nobody was, however, injured.

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A source said: “When they came, they surrounded the building and started ordering the monarch and other occupants to open the door and surrender willingly, but nobody answered.

“At this point, they started shooting. They destroyed the main door and entered. They terrorised kabiyesi and his family members before dragging him out and took him away. None of the family members had been contacted but we knew they were kidnappers.”

Ondo Police spokesman, Funmilayo Odunlami, who confirmed the incident, said details were still sketchy.

She said: “It is true but the details of the incident are still not clear, however, police from the Divisional Police headquarters at Oke-Agbe, headquarters of Akoko Northwest Local Government Area of Ondo State, have been deployed in the town to launch an investigation into the incident.”

The governments of the six Southwest states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun have been urged to do something to curb the incidence of killings and kidnapping for ransom along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the growing insecurity in the region.

This was contained in a statement by a security consultant, Dr. Goodluck Uguoji on the growing incidence of insecurity along the expressway and the Southwest region in general.

He said the unfolding security situation in the Southwest was frightening and that urgent steps must be taken to reassure travellers who ply the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which is the country’s major highway and main access to Lagos, the country’s commercial and industrial hub.

Uguoji, who is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Goodfiyeyh Security Company Ltd, said the development suggests that it would take more than the national security architecture to curb the insecurity in the country. The security expert lauded the efforts of the Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in the area of insecurity.

He enjoined other Southwest governors to set aside politics and emulate their Ondo counterpart by recruiting more officers for the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, and equip them to engage in round-the-clock patrols within their states, particularly on interstate highways.

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He also urged the governors to implement their anti-open grazing laws and enforce bans on commercial motorcycle operations, to reassure travellers about the safety of the highways in the region.

The statement reads: “A breakdown of the killing by geo-political zones according to the data obtained from the Nigerian Security Tracker, a project of the Council on Foreign Relations of the United States of America showed that the Southwest region recorded no fewer than 2,170 deaths during the period under review.

“On October 23, 2022, the Embassy of the United States of America in Nigeria released a security notice of elevated terror attacks in Nigeria. It, therefore, warned American citizens of actions to take, avoiding non-essential travel and Crowds among others. Four days after this alert, specifically, on October 27, at the Ibadan, Oyo State end of the expressway, suspected bandits attacked travellers; abducting five persons and killing several others.

“On October 29, two days after, seven bandits struck in Irele-Ekiti, also abducting four travellers. These two recent kidnapping incidents in the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway underline the growing insecurity in the Southwest geopolitical zone.

“Victims of recent attacks have recounted how the kidnappers callously murdered those whose families were unable to pay a ransom. One victim, Adigun Agbaje, a former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, said he was shot in the head during the abduction and was released after spending two nights in the thick forests of Ogun and Oyo State and that five others were still left with the kidnappers. Another victim, Aminat Taiwo said those kidnappers were more than 30 and that they were putting on army and police uniforms with their faces covered.

“Many other victims have been recounting similar gory encounters across the Southwest highways, farms, and forests in the past few years. And despite repeated warnings, attacks, and strident alerts on the invasion of the Southwest, the region is brimming with criminals of diverse hues, including herders destroying farms, kidnapping, raping and killing.

“It confirms long-voiced alarms that the Southwest forests are infested with bandits.”

The Orangun of Oke-Ila, Oba Adedokun Abolarinwa has admonished Yoruba sons and daughters to rally other ethnic groups across the country to enable the best candidate of their own to clinch the 2023 presidential seat.

Oba Abolarinwa made this known while delivering a paper at the 2nd colloquium on Yoruba and the world tagged, ‘Mitigating, Surviving and Overcoming Existential Threats: Yoruba and Insecurity- the past, present and future,’ organised by Osun State University, Osogbo through Global Affairs and Sustainable Development Institute(GASDI).

The monarch advocated unity among Yoruba people as he maintained that collaborative efforts would end the scourge of marauders in southwest forests.

Read Also; Afenifere, Adebanjo and Yoruba conundrum

Politically, he admitted competition among the ethnic groups across the country for the 2023 presidency, however, he called for unity of purpose among the Yoruba people to ensure that their best candidate emerges in 2023.

According to him, “I pray that we have the best, I know that as Yoruba people we are gifted but within the armpit of the Nigeria federation there are competitions on who will lead the country, but we must learn to navigate through the interests to clinch the presidency.

“We have 625 languages in Nigeria, Yoruba is just one, so we must navigate through, I wish we have the best candidate and it is doable because what we need now in Nigeria is a great purposeful president, the challenges are too many.”

Speaking at the event, Uniosun’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Clement Adebooye condemned tagging any ethnic group as criminal. He called for the prosecution of arrested bandits and conviction.

Following razing of the palace of Aree of Iree, Oba Ponle Ademola by hoodlums, five ruling houses out of six have revealed that the attack was politically sponsored to depict crisis in the community in Boripe Local Government Area of the state.

Princes from the ruling houses stated that the crisis was sponsored after the new governor, Ademola Adeleke issued an Executive Order to three monarchs of the state to vacate the palace following a report of the crisis.

The princes, Olatunji Gbemiga (Oyekun ruling house), Adeleke Wasiu (Larooye ruling house), Jimoh Lawal, (Iyoonla ruling house), Oyerinde Fatai (Ojo Ayagaga ruling house), and Prince Olaniyi Sulaiman (Olubokun ruling house). Speaking on behalf of the ruling houses, Olatunji Gbemiga said since the Oba Ademola Oluponle was installed as Aree, the community was peaceful until Thursday when some political hoodlums unleashed terror on some residents and set the palace ablaze to give the impression that there is a crisis in the town.

The princes called on the security agencies in the state to investigate the disruption with a view to bringing the culprits to justice, adding that Chief Aogun, Soliyu Atoyebi’s arrest had nothing to do with Aree’s issue.

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“As you are all aware, on the 7th of November, 2022, a new king, Oba Ademola Raphel Oluponle was installed in Iree as the new Aree of Iree, after following all necessary procedures and traditional rites as laid down by the Chieftaincy Law of Osun State. For close to a month now, Iree has been so peaceful and orderly since Oba Ademola resumed the palace hosting dignitaries from within and outside the town.

“Sadly, yesterday December 1, 2022, some suspected hoodlums stormed the road leading to the palace and also attacked the palace, burning some items, under the disguise that the Aogun of Iree, Chief Saliu Atoyebi was arrested for what up till this morning remain unknown to us and we strongly believe it has nothing to do with Aree throne.

“As if that was not enough, the hoodlums entered houses of individuals in Iree, attacking them, destroying their properties all in their effort to create an impression that there is a crisis in the town over Obaship.”

The princes said the person that led the attack was a popular thug, who is always involved in disrupting the peace of the town. “We have reported those that spearheaded the attack to the police,” the princes said.

A former governor of Oyo State Sen. Rashidi Ladoja and the Oyo State Police Command has organized a peace meeting for governorship candidates in the 2023 election in the state.

The peace parley, which was held at the police headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan on Friday, saw Governor Seyi Makinde and other governorship candidates sign an accord to conduct themselves peacefully before, during, and after the election.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Sen. Teslim Folarin; Accord Party candidate, Chief Adebayo Adelabu; and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate, Mr. Joshua Popoola, were among the top candidates that signed the accord. Folarin was represented by his deputy, Dr. David Okunlola.

Other candidates who signed the accord include Tawfik Akinwale (Labour Party), Akeem Yusuf (ADP), Olaniyi Ajekugbe (AA), Oladimeji Idowu (AAC), Adesina Isiaq (APGA), Rahmon Adegboyega (NRN).

The signing of the peace agreement was convened by Ladoja, who is the Otun Olubadan, and who also represented the Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Lekan Balogun, at the ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, Oba Balogun, urged the candidates to take the peace accord seriously, stressing that the event was not just a mere formality. He advised them to see themselves as brothers, remembering that elections will come and go but that they will remain brothers.

He said: “We are pacesetters in Oyo State. Apart from Abuja, I don’t think there is another place where they have signed a peace accord. I appeal to the candidates to go about their electioneering campaigns peacefully. It is when there is peace you can govern; you can’t go on an electioneering campaign if there is no peace.

“And I can assure you that whatever happens in Oyo State will go around the country. If the peace starts in Oyo State, it will go around the country. The 1966 coup was a direct reflection of what was happening in Oyo State.

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“I implore all of you to go about your campaigns peacefully, you are all omoluabis. Some of you have been friends before you entered politics and you will still be friends after the election. I want to appeal to the Commissioner of Police to ensure there are regular interactive sessions among the candidates.”

In his goodwill message, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)  in Oyo State, Dr Adeniran Tella, described the signing of the peace accord as historical because it is the first of its kind since his recent deployment to  the state.

He said the signing of the peace accord was a key pointer and attestation that the 2023 election in the state would be conducted in a peaceful manner.

His words: “As all political parties sign the peace accord today, ahead of the conduct of 2023 general elections, the commission is poised at using technology in order to strengthen the electoral process. INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) has indeed enabled the commission to expand and improve the integrity of the nation’s voter register via crv.inecnigeria.org. The use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) remains a game changer in the electioneering process. It will however be used to verify, authenticate and upload results from polling units through INEC Result Viewing (IRev) Portal via: www.inecresultelections.ng.

“Therefore, all hands must be on deck to ensure a free, fair, credible, transparent, inclusive and conclusive 2023 general elections in the state.”

Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Adebowale Williams, emphasised the need to have peaceful electioneering process before, during and after the 2023 general elections in the state.

He urged political  parties and their candidates to comply with INEC guidlines on elections and campaigns.

“Recently we have witnessed destruction and defacing of campaign bill boards, posters and reprisal attacks.

“Our desire is that the process will encourage issue-based campaigns, and not inciting comments or slogans.

“We hope the political parties and candidates will support all institutions of government toward ensuring a peaceful  electioneering campaigns,” he said.

Williams warned that police would leave no stone unturned in dealing with individuals trying to instigate violence in the state, no matter how highly placed.

In their goodwill messages, the Director General, Department of State Services (DSS) in Oyo State, Mr E.C. Okoye; the Chief Imam of Ibadan land, Sheikh Abdul Ganiyy Abubakri Agbotomokekere; and state chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Apostle (Col.) Akinyemiju (Rtd), urged the candidates to promote peace among themselves and their supporters.

They urged them to be law-abiding and prevent shedding of innocent blood throughout the electioneering campaigns.