Category: South West

Some members of the First Intake Able Voluntary Retired or Discharged 10 or More Years in Military Service yesterday protested their 44 years unpaid pensions in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Led by their National Coordinator, Cpl. Babawande Philips (rtd), the group marched through the streets of Ibadan, carrying placards with inscriptions like ‘44 years unpaid pensions to the Nigeria Civil War Veterans’ and ‘We are dying in silence’.

Philips said: “We have been deprived of our pensions in the last 44 years. They have denied us of our pensions. We laid our lives for the unity of this nation. I wonder why they are treating us like this. We want the whole nation to know that we are being cheated.

“Those who fought for the Biafran side have been paid. Why were they paid and they left us unpaid, we who gave our lives for the unity of this nation.” he said.

Philips faulted recent claims that they were not qualified because their service was less than 15 years, saying they wanted to use Decree 102 against them. According to him, such Decree could not be used against them because it was not used against the Biafrans who fought the country.

He added: “They are claiming that anyone who didn’t serve up to 15 years is not qualified to receive pensions. They have forgotten that there was a circular that came out in 1977 that any soldier who clocks 10 years or more, but less than 15 years, is qualified to receive pensions; they would also be entitled to 40 per cent of their terminal salaries. I don’t know whether they are not aware of this circular or not.”

Philips said there are about 780 of them yet to be paid, and so appealed to the Federal Government to heed their call.

“We appeal to the Federal Government to yield to our clarion call. If a person used a day in the war front, you can’t equate it with somebody who used a year outside the war. The Biafran soldiers were paid in batches and they have all been paid to the last kobo. The last batch was paid last year, about 112 of them,” he added.

The coordinator also narrated how they settled their litigation with the government out of court in 2015, and a new biometric verification was conducted for them.

“We have all these documents with us. We have the verification papers, biometrically captured in 2007 and 2015. We all have it with us. So, we don’t know the reason why they should continue to punish us. A lot of my people are in abject poverty, many have died,” he said.

Secretary Lance Cpl. Joseph Popoola (rtd) appealed to the Federal Government and Nigerians to help address their problem.

“It has been hard. We are suffering in silence. We appeal to all Nigerians and Federal Government to see to our problems. We have been on this since 2002. We were in court till 2014 when Chief Justice Inang Okoro (rtd) said we should go to the National Industrial Court. President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015. Then, we were asked to come for pension board verification, which we did. But still, we didn’t hear from them,” he said.

Lagos State has stopped approval for structures above three floors in Ebute-Metta East and West.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Idris Salako, in a statement yesterday, said the decision followed an audit of buildings in the area.

He said the low-lying nature of Ebute-Metta and its negative impact on some of the buildings, most of which showed serious defects, made it mandatory for the government to apply special measures to safeguard lives and property.

He said: “The soil and topography, the low water level and effects, as well as the inability of structures in this area to bear loads above three floors, were considered in arriving at this decision.

“The Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA) has been directed to henceforth stop taking applications for approval above three floors in the area to guarantee safety of lives and property by ensuring that we put a halt to lives being cut short by building collapse. The government is compelled to invoke the relevant sections of the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2019, as amended, to address the crisis.”

The commissioner called for the understanding of stakeholders, stressing the decision is in the best interest of the state.

Oyo State Deputy Governor Rauf Olaniyan has restated his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Olaniyan, while reacting to his rumoured defection from the party, said the rumours keep spreading because he stayed aloof from ‘the shenanigans that surrounded the selection of PDP candidates for the 2023 elections’.

According to Olaniyan, about five political parties are wooing him, four of whom he said are ready to offer him their governorship ticket for the 2023 election.

Asked why he stayed away from the politickings, selection of candidates and allocation of tickets, the deputy governor said he cannot say he was involved when, in actual fact, he was sidelined.

Olaniyan said: “I am a Muslim, and Allah determines mymovement. So, if Allah says wait in PDP, I’ll wait, if He says I should go to APC, I will go, and if he says I shouldn’t go to either APC or PDP but elsewhere, that’s what I will do. Or if he says I should go away from politics, I will go away. I am not looking for what to eat or drink, let’s just wait for God to speak and we will know what to do.

“Why the speculations are always coming up is because I have decided to stay aloof, all through the nominations. I haven’t bought any nomination form and I didn’t participate in the PDP shenanigans. I call it shenanigans because we know all the anomalies that have been going on.

“I hold no grudge against anyone and I am not fighting anyone on anything. I was elected deputy governor and, constitutionally, I can only do whatever the governor assigns to me. I am not having issues with anyone and I am not fighting anybody on anything.

“You can claim some people are not important specifically, but let’s wait and see. But, like I have been telling people, I am still a bonafide member of the PDP as at now, and 24 hours is a long time in politics. Anything can happen anytime”

On rumours of being courted by other parties, Olaniyan said: “About five parties are wooing me with their ticket, four of them are wooing me with governorship ticket. I have paid my dues in so many parties. I was part of the founding members of ADC in Oyo State. The parties all offered me tickets but I have told them to allow God speak. To be the governor is not my headache…”

While reacting to last Tuesday meeting between the governor and members of the House of Assembly, Olaniyan cautioned naysayers against speculations, saying the governor has the right to meet with the lawmakers anytime and on any issue.

The Agunloye ruling house of Oyo Kingdom, Oyo State, has agreed to entertain only 50 aspirants in the race to produce the next Alaafin of Oyo, The Nation has learnt.

An elder in the ruling house said the family decided to streamline the number of aspirants to make the process easier.

According to him, the Agunloye family is made up of five branches – Ilaka, Akingbeyin, Gbadegesin, Agogo Ija and Owoade – and the larger family has agreed that each branch should limit its aspirants to 10.

He added: “We have agreed to limit the number of aspirants to 10 in each family branch so we won’t have an uncontrollable number. I pray it works. Aspirants are to submit their letter of intent to their family heads who will take them to the larger Agunloye family meeting scheduled for May 21. Leaders of the larger Agunloye family will then take the letters to Baba Iyaji (head of princes) in Oyo, who will hand over the applications to the Oyomesi for final selection.”

The Oyomesi is the council of chiefs that rules with the Alaafin. It is headed by the Basorun, the prime minister.

When asked if the Oyomesi has the power to disqualify any prince, the elder said the council has no such power.

“The only way Oyomesi will choose is by consulting the Ifa oracle. The Oyomesi will present all applicants to Ifa who will pick the best for Oyo,” he added.

The elder also pointed out that consultation with Ifa oracle will be witnessed by representatives of the Agunloye family to ensure transparency.

The Nation also gathered that aspirants are already submitting their intent letters. The Gbadegesin family, it was learnt, will meet this Saturday to finalise decisions on aspirants.

A presidential aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Ayoola Falola, yesterday approached a Federal High Court in Ibadan to nullify the processes of the primary election of the party ahead of the 2023 general election.

The suit, FHC/IB/C5/67/2022, is challenging the party for charging N40millon for the nomination form for the forthcoming presidential election.

PDP had fixed its expression of interest and nomination forms at N40million. So far, no fewer than 14 presidential hopefuls, including a former vice- president, serving governors and businessmen have picked the forms.

The Ibadan-born aspirant, who is in his 30s, also joined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and PDP National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu in the suit.

In his prayers in the suit, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent, Falola deposed that the party lacked the power to issue guidelines requesting payment for nomination and expression of interest forms from the claimant or any other member aspiring to contest public office in the coming general election.

Citing Section 84(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022 and sections 65, 66,106, 107, 131, 137,177,187, 224 and 15(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the plaintiff prayed that the court should declare the process null and void.

He declared that INEC had the power to monitor the operations of the PDP with regard to imposition in its constitution, guidelines or rules additional nomination qualification or disqualification criteria.

Falola argued that the PDP lacked the power to disenfranchise him from contesting the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the basis that he didn’t pay the fees imposed by the party for the purchase of nomination and expression of interest forms.

The preliminary hearing of the case is fixed for tomorrow.

Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has approved the recruitment of 350 persons into the Amotekun Corps, to ease pressure on the Ondo State Security Network.

Akeredolu announced this yesterday in Akure at an award programme organised by Ondo State Agribusiness Empowerment Centre (OSAEC).

He said more operational vehicles and motorcycles would be purchased to aid the corps’ operation.

The governor said it became imperative because the corps had been overstretched while protecting farmers in the bush.

Akeredolu, who noted that there was a time agricultural investors were leaving the state until the advent of Amotekun, said: “We have agreed to employ 350 personnel into the Amotekun Corps because of the pressure on Amotekun.

“Operational vehicles and motorcycles will be bought too to ease their work.”

He said there would soon be Amotekun stations in rural areas, as those places were not on the road but in the bush.

The governor had said OSAEC was created to revolutionise the agricultural sector, as farming should no longer be a vocation, but a business.

He said although the state had interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), his administration was developing agriculture in the senatorial districts.

Akeredolu said Ondo State unarguably supplied over 45 per cent of tomatoes being sold in Lagos markets.

He said he was committed to launch Ondo State into the world map of agriculture and would continue to partner and support stakeholders to achieve this objective.

The governor said the Okitipupa Oil Palm Plantation, abandoned over the years, had been brought back as part of his commitments to the red-gold (palm oil) revolution.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Agric and Agricbusinesses, Pastor Akin Olotu, said the award was to recognise those that had performed well in the sector.

He said the state was reaping the fruits sown by the current government, which came into office in February 2017.

Lagos State Government is set to embark on demolition of distressed buildings, to prevent collapse and secure lives and property.

Physical Planning and Urban Development Commissioner Dr. Idris Salako made this known in Alausa, Lagos while giving an update on government building collapse prevention plans.

He said the focus of the exercise would be on structures already marked as distressed by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), particularly in Ebute-Metta East where a building collapsed recently.

Salako said while the assessment of structures in the area and other parts of the state continued, it became necessary to demolish those earlier identified as distressed, to avert disaster, “as the rains are here.”

He added: ”The Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration is committed to ensuring security of lives and property. This is why we have resolved to act promptly in addressing spate of building collapses by removing distressed structures before they wreak havoc, especially during the rainy season when such buildings are more prone to collapse.”

Salako said residents should be vigilant and report any untoward development through the ministry or state government communication channels, especially the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.

Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola is set to compensate #EndSARS and police brutality victims.

The governor in a statement yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Ismail Omipidan, said the government would compensate the victims tomorrow.

He said the compensation followed the  recommendations of the #EndSARS Panel chaired by a retired judge, Justice Akinwale Oladimeji, set up by the governor, following a presidential directive.

“My administration is resolved to rid the state of all forms of injustice against the oppression of the weak. This is why citizens must hold external and internal institutions accountable in ways that public conducts and behaviours conform to the ethos of Omoluabi,” the statement said.

Oyetola had while receiving the report last August said the government would implement the recommendations of the panel in a manner that would ensure that justice was served.

But while putting strategies in place for the compensation, there was another presidential directive that states should submit their reports to the Presidency.

Ahead of the presidential primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the former speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adejare Bello, has said the state delegates will support Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Bello, Nigerian envoy to Mexico, who is the convener of a political group, Bola Ahmed Tinubu Our Choice (BATOC 2023), urged Southwest monarchs, including Ooni of Ife, Alake of Egbaland, Olubadan of Ibadan and others to ensure that Southwest produced the next president.

A statement by Bello, through the Director General of the group, Dr. Ayodele Owoade, said the meeting held by leaders of the APC, presided over by Chief Bisi Akande and his counterpart, Olusegun Osoba, had created a united front for the party.

“Our choice in Osun APC is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Our delegates are for him because he stood true to progressive credentials and precedence. He has built leaders across the country. He planned their emergence. He co-hatched the ruling All Progressives Congress.

“We implore traditional rulers in the Southwest to ensure that a credible candidate, who can win election, emerges from the zone ahead of the 2023 presidential election.”