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Tag: ADELEKE

  • I won’t return to PDP, says Adeleke

    I won’t return to PDP, says Adeleke

    Osun State first civilian Governor Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke has vowed not to return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from where he had defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    His comments followed a statement by a PDP stalwart, Shuaib Oyedokun, that he would return to the party.

    But the former governor in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs, Olumide Lawal, said he had left the PDP on the personal conviction that the APC was a better alternative.

    According to Adeleke, APC was a party, where he enjoyed his peace of mind and political career.

    He described Oyedokun’s comment as a wish not realisable.

    Adeleke said: “I am a politician and a winner, who no political party would not want to lose. I left the PDP essentially on principle.”

    He said he was denied political relevance and respect for which he said he ‘painstakingly’ built over the years in the PDP.

    “So, for me I can never go back to the PDP, where some gangsters have no respect for human lives. I am advising those nursing the idea of my return to the PDP to perish such thought.

    “Since my defection to the APC, I have joined forces with other progressives to make Osun State an El Dorado. I so much appreciate the infrastructure development Rauf Aregbesola has effected since his assumption of office in 2010.

    “The APC is a party of the common people, where their welfare is paramount and protected by its leaders. So I am happy that I have contributed immensely to the fortune of the APC in so short a time that I joined the party.

  • Adeleke picks Senate form

    Adeleke picks Senate form

    First civilian Governor of  Osun State and former Senate Committee Chairman on Independent National Electoral Commission Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke has picked his intention form to represent Osun West Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Accompanied by his supporters to the party’s secretariat on Gbongan Road at 4pm, Adeleke promised quality representation.

    The former governor, who lamented the rate of poverty, promised to support the Rauf Aregbesola administration to ensure rapid growth of the state.

    The Chairman, Prince Gboyega Famodun, assured that there would be a level-playing field for all aspirants.

    Adeleke contested the senatorial seat on the platform of the PDP in 2011 but lost to Senator Mudasiru Hussein.

  • Adeleke: I was assaulted in Osogbo

    Adeleke: I was assaulted in Osogbo

    Former Osun State Governor Isiaka Adeleke appeared yesterday before a three-man commission of enquiry into the Disturbance of Public Peace, sitting at the state High Court in Osogbo.

    Adeleke is accusing of assault the former Senate Chairman on Appropriation, Iyiola Omisore, Minister of Police Affairs Jelili Adesiyan and a retired Customs officer, Sogo Agboola.

    Though the respondents didnot appear before the panel, Adeleke alleged that that he was beaten up by the people on April 2 at the Ideal Nest Hotel, Osogbo, ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary election for its governorship aspirants.

    The former governor, who presented two witnesses, said he reported the incident to the police, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Public Complaints Commission and the Presidency.

    Urging the Commission to invite and caution the respondents, Adeleke called for appropriate recommendations on them to serve as a deterrent.

    Chairman Justice Moshood Adeigbe said the commission was not set up to pass judgment on anybody but to make recommendations to the government. He adjourned till November 10.

    The petitioner’s counsel, Lekan Olayiwola, said the respondents’ non-appearance would not deter the commission from sending its recommendations to the government.

  • Adeleke’s exit deflates Osun PDP

    Adeleke’s exit deflates Osun PDP

    In this piece, Erasmus Ikhide writes on the implications of former Governor Isiaka Adeleke’s defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    THE exit of Senator Isiaka Adeleke from the Osun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dealt an unimaginable blow to the party’s bid to reclaim the state from the ruling APC, after nearly four years. From the outset, this has been an uphill task for the PDP, owning largely to its earlier anti-people policies that brought the people in direct collusion with excruciating poverty and looting of the state treasury.

    The first civilian governor, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, defected at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, in Osogbo, the state capital. He implored the electorate not to cast their votes for the PDP candidate on  August 9.

    In the face of mounting rejection, the PDP is seems hauntingly lost in its braggart pastime to undone the electorate, feigns electability and hosts preeminently the banner of deserved victory. This is overt in several comments made by some of the oppositions’ media minders in response to Senator Isiaka Adeleke’s defection some days ago. They won’t concede that a major depletion has forlorn their rank. Adeleke is the most eminent in the PDP in his countryside as the first civilian governor of the state, but the oppositions would not have any of it, and preferred to cast shadows in the dial.

    Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi and Oluwole Oke saw the defection of  Adeleke, a governorship aspirant, as a development that would not affect the winning streak and the electoral victory of their party. The  PDP chairman, Alhaji Gani Olaoluwa, ruses Adeleke’s and PDP members defection as “those whose political relevance has waned and have been huge liabilities to the party.”

    Describing the decision of Adeleke as unfortunate, taking into recognition the quantum of benefits that had accrued to him since he joined the party,  they contended that it was laughable and amounted to ingratitude on his part to dump the party that made him politically. In separate press statements issued by their  media aides, Mr Ayo Aluko-Olokun and Mr.Yemi Giwa respectively, Olasunkanmi and Oke assured that the former governor’s exit cannot have any negative effect on the chances of the party at the election.

    Olasunkanmi, who is a former Minister for Youths, said: “We believe in that tenet of democracy, which guarantees every individual the right of association. The defector has taken a decision which he believes would best serve his interest best under this dispensation and we cannot condemn, abuse or commend him for it. It is his right.”

    “But, we wish to assure you that his exit would not diminish the chance of the PDP winning the August 9, governorship election. We shall strengthen our hold on Osun West Senatorial District, where he comes from. It is, however, unfortunate that a person that has benefitted so much, using the PDP platform, would jump ship despite all his repeated promises and pledges to vote and mobilise support for President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP”, he added.

    Reacting,  Oke remarked: “He is a pillar in PDP. I wish he stays and fight within the party. There is no party that is crisis free. I still hope that he would change his mind. If he doesn’t, I wish him well. It is a free world”. A check on the political intrigues that led to the exit of Senator Adeleke from the PDP and the thousands of followers that left with him defect the claims of Senator Rasheed Akinlabi Olasun-kanmi and Hon Oluwole Oke.

    Adeleke attested to that when he affirmed that he was asked by leaders of the PDP to contest the governorship  in Osun, but was thereafter betrayed and hounded. The first civilian governor  described the PDP as a platform that breeds and supports thuggery and violence.

    Adeleke, also a former senator, spoke in Osogbo, the Osun state capital, while leading thousands of his supporters and former members of the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Adeleke noted that with the alleged assault on him by the Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, and the candidate of the PDP for the forthcoming governorship election in the state, Iyiola Omisore?, he and his followers were no longer safe in the PDP. The former governor claimed he was called upon by the leaders of the PDP to contest the governorship seat in Osun having realised that Mr. Omisore stood no chance against Governor Rauf Aregbe-sola.

    He said he was thereafter betrayed and hounded.

    “I am happy to be in the progressives,” Adeleke said. “I was a governor under the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which was a progressive party, I was fully involved in the struggle for June I2.

    “I was asked to come and vie for governorship that Omisore is not capable, I accepted, but a day to the congress I got to the hotel in Osogbo. The people I sent there were on the floor with guns pointed at their heads and I told the police that they are members of our party? from Ede.

    “I then moved towards the room where I met Sogo Agboola, Jelili Adesiyan, Iyiola Omisore, Gani Olaoluwa and others. As I was about explaining what happened outside to the Minister, he descended on me with blows. So also was Omisore and others.”

    He said he had nothing against the PDP, which once offered him a senatorial slot, but that he believed that if he should remain in the party, he would have to work for Mr. Omisore, saying working for Omisore would amount to working for a criminal.

    “They are a party breeding thugs,” he said. “How can a whole minister of the Federal Republic be boxing, I have nothing against PDP. I can’t support a violent person to go to the Government House.”

    Adeleke commended Aregbesola for what he termed enviable achievements recorded so far, said “I am here today to tell the world that I am making a U-turn from PDP to APC to prove that I am capable of advancing my political career and joining forces  with people of like minds, who believe in peace, progress and prosperity for our people and generations yet unborn.”

    The Vice Chairman of the PDP in Osun, who spoke on behalf of other decampees, Bashir Salam, said he and his colleagues were leaving the PDP because security is lacking in the party. “We are leaving the PDP because their is no security of lifes and property. In a party where the first civilian governor was assaulted without anything coming out of it, what do you expect to befall people like us”? “We have to look for change which we got in APC. Since the day I saw blood coming out from the mouth of one of our leaders we became unsafe and we have to leave,” Salam said.

    Aregbesola described the defection of Adeleke to the APC as someone who had chosen to come back to his rightful home, stressing that “I have told Adeleke long before now that his father, who was the Balogun of Ede did not join the conservatives while alive and that his people in Ede do not belong to the PDP”. “He has come back home”, he stated.

    In Yorubaland, we do not belong to the PDP. Their reign had failed to better the lots of the masses. I don’t want to talk much about the failures of the party. This is because some of them are still talking to us and they are coming”. “They (PDP) did not allow former Governor Oyinlola to perform when he was in government for almost eight years. No man of virtues would identify himself with the PDP, considering the misery, bad governance and failure they have caused Nigerians. We celebrated our democracy some days ago, what have we got to show for it”, Aregbesola queried.

    Aregbesola attributed all his Administration’s feats in the state to God without which his personal strives would have amounted to nothing. He admonished the people of the state against fighting the PDP, saying violence had become their stock in trade. The governor said, “What will Adeleke want to gain from saying they want to kill him. He has been in the party for long. If we are not home with that, have we forgotten about the  people killed in Ife?

    As the electioneering gain tractions, there is absolute certainty that the people of Osun have already made up their minds on the direction they aspire the governance of the state to follow. In less than three months from now, that aspiration will give way to reality when they cast  their voters for continuous development, instead of returning the state to long forgotten era of political thuggery and bloodletting. That is what a vote for the PDP can offer the people.

  • Adeleke abhors political violence

    The comment by the Omisore Campaign organization, to the effect, that the first executive governor of Osun State, Senator Isiaka Adeleke instigated unprovoked assault on Police Affairs Minister, Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan and Senator Iyiola Omisore, is a blantant lie without foundation. It was just an attempt to drag the good name of Adeleke unjustly in the mud. The reported incident at Ideal Nest Hotel, Osogbo on April 2, was to say the least, a demonstration of desperation on the part of Omisore Campaign Organization to create unnecessary political tension within the PDP and particularly, create unjust harassment of a particular gubernatorial aspirant and his supporters for the party primary held on Saturday, April 5.

    Throughout his political career, Senator Adeleke has always preached politics without bitterness. He canvasses at all times for peace, concord, amity and tolerance among politicians and their supporters. He came into the present race to salvage the badly dented image of PDP in Osun, occasioned by lack of transparency and maturity on the part of present PDP Executice Committee in Osun, to carry everybody along as stakeholders without bias.

     What therefore, is the active involvement of a serving minister like Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan, with a particular aspirant of PDP in governorship primary race, when actually Adesiyan should be seen, superintending over the security of Nigerians and non-Nigerian alike, across the 36 states? Why did the Minister of Police Affairs become a biased chief security officer and allowed himself to be openly identified with a particular aspirant against his oath of office to be fair to all? He subjected Senator Adeleke, to unwarranted intimidation and harassment at Ideal Nest Hotel on April 2.

    Glory be to God, that the Osun State Commissioner of Police, through a signed refuttal by the command PPRO, DSP Folashade Odoro, has denied ever telling any newspaper reporter, that Senator Adeleke brought thugs to Ideal Nest Hotel on April 2, to cause trouble. This reassuring message from the Commissioner of Police, has put a big lie, to the ungodly impression created by Omisore Campaign Organization, that Adeleke is a “trouble maker”. Where therefore did the Omisore Campaign Organization get their fact “that the ex-governor stormed the hotel with thugs armed to the teeth”? Let us play politics with absolute candour, love and tolerance for each other and everybody, because at the end of the day, politicians will still pat themselves at the back.

     Senator Isiaka Adeleke after losing out to Senator Mudashir Hussen in the 2011 Osun West Senatorial election, promptly wrote a congratulatory letter to the Senator and placed same on radio, television and print media. To Adeleke, seeking for a political office should not be a matter of life and death, if truly one wants to serve the people.

    What is the big deal in Senator Adeleke exchanging pleasantries with fellow party members, particularly the Honourable Minister of Police Affairs, Adesiyan, whom Adeleke appointed a Director-General in a ministry, when he (Adeleke) was governor in 1992? Is that the way, Adesiyan would pay back Senator Adeleke by being unduly rude to the latter on April 2, at the Ideal Nest Hotel? It was maturity on the part of Adeleke that made for peace as against what Omisore camp painted out. Adesiyan should not have compromised himself so heavily as evidenced in his support for Omisore, having become a federal minister. He should be called to order by the President, so as to enable Nigerians have confidence in a sensitive post such as Ministry of Police Affairs.

     Nigerians, particularly the presidency, should be alerted, that the current Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan should apply caution in the discharge of his duties as a minister of federal republic, whose duty it is, to protect all Nigerians and non- Nigerians alike. Elections and indeed politicking, should be an avenue to serve the people. We call for decorum on the part of Adesiyan in the discharge of his duty as Police Affairs Minister. Somebody was there before him and somebody will come after him. Posterity will judge the matter.

     It is out of place to tag Adeleke an APC agent working to destabilize PDP. As a founding father of PDP, Senator Adeleke can never abandon the ship of the party. He is not a deserter or a quitter like some PDP big wigs did recently and left for other parties.

    Where is the proof that some of Adeleke’s siblings registered for APC? What are their card numbers? Why should politics be all this dirty. If Senator Adeleke decides, if at all, to move to any other political party, he won’t do it in the dark but openly. But that is not the case and will not be. Adeleke is a loyal member of PDP and will stay with it through thick and thin.

     Adeleke, as an apostle of politics without bitterness, will not create enmity with anybody because of difference in the political parties they belong to. He has a large heart, which accommodates diversity of persons and opinions, not minding creed, colour, tribe or religion. He is not a sentimental politician, who keeps people at bay.

     The innuendoes and blantant lies being peddled by Omisore’s agents will soon collapse like a pack of cards. Truth is constant. Adeleke will stay with and in PDP and work for its progress. He was not scared away from the April 5, PDP governorship primaries, but only took a patriotic decision, because no life is worth losing over transient political post. He is at peace with himself taking that wise decision.

     The Senator towers above being used by anybody or political party to bring PDP into disrepute. He will however, not allow himself to be dictated to by some political contractors, whose stock is to trade away their integrity for a pot of porridge and their future. The Presidency and indeed the national headquarters of PDP, should do the right thing fast, by investigating the reported Ideal Nest April 2, incident, to know who the real culprits are.

    Again, Senator Adeleke will never shy away from associating with the good name of President Jonathan before, now and in the future. In God Almighty, Senator Adeleke places his hope. To come back as Osun governor is not a do or die matter for him. Being the first governor of Osun is a record forever, when those now clamouring to emerge as PDP candidate were after all nowhere near active politics in 1992.

    • Lawal is is media adviser to Senator Adeleke.

  • Adeleke and PDP: A bond forever

    Right now, many politicians in Osun State, just like in other parts of the country, are out presenting themselves for various elective offices through party primaries. There are alignments, re-positioning and re-engineering going on in different PDP caucuses in Osun State to sell their candidates

    As should be expected, there are a few aspirants in Osun PDP, who are distinguishably placed to try their hands on the ‘political plough’ and give the PDP the desired victory at the August 9, 2014 governorship election. Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who, a few days ago, announced his readiness to partake in his party governorship primaries comes to mind.

    His emergence at the PDP governorship primaries, slated for April 5, 2014, has changed the permutations on the ground. It has altered the political calculus in the PDP. And as should be expected, some lily-livered and chicken-hearted contenders for the PDP ticket are out with one cheap blackmail or the other against Senator Isiaka Adeleke, as if he is not eminently qualified to seek the highest political office in the land. His outing is God’s own project.

    A divine call to serve

    Isiaka Adeleke is a colourful politician, with a touch of the magic wand. He is not new to innuendoes or abracadabra from opponents. He saw it in 2003 and took the outcome with philosophical calmness. He never loses sleep over any overt or covert measures by his detractors to unjustly castigate him. To him, it is selfless service to the people.

    No wonder, politicians and non-politicians alike are joyous that Adeleke is now in the race to make it positively eventful and result-oriented. The response to his bid to present himself for the governorship race in Osun has been electrifying and a repeat of his outing in 1990, when he participated and won the Osun governorship race. Adeleke is not new to controversy, which he sees as part of politicking. Without sounding immodest, Isiaka Adeleke is the toast of Osun electorate. He towers above those who were politically non-existent in 1992 when Adeleke became the governor at the age of 35. The difference is clear. Isiaka Adeleke is a quintessential politician, who is set to do the PDP proud.

    But some undignified people within the Osun PDP are crying ‘blue murder’ that Isiaka Adeleke is peddling the name of President Goodluck Jonathan to back up his ambition. Why not, if not? When has it become a crime to associate one’s person or goal with credible people, like President Jonathan, who, in anyway, is the political leader and father of all in the PDP, no matter who you are.

    If, therefore, Adeleke is rightly asserting that Jonathan is favourably disposed to his ambition, why couldn’t other aspirants use Obama’s name to back up their ambition? Jonathan’s good name opens door to prosperity. Associating with him is therefore not out of place.

    The hand of Esau and voice of Jacob behind the run-Adeleke-down syndrome came up with a syndicated publication in some newspapers a few days ago to call for the head of Isiaka Adeleke for daring to mention Jonathan’s name as regards his next move to become the PDP flag bearer.

    Adeleke has no apologies to offer this group of people. In war, be it conventional or political, all is fair to win.

    Adeleke, in 1990 through 1991, traversed the length and breadth of old Oyo State, canvassing for support to become the governor. He gained wide acceptance from that endeavour. And today, from as far as Oke-Ogun, the political friendship cultivated by Adeleke remains as solid as rock of Gibraltar. No wonder, they are coming from Shaki, Oke-Iho, Iganna, Iseyin, Ago Amodu, Ago Are to solidarise with Adeleke, since he announced his bid to contest the PDP governorship primaries on April 5, 2014.

    Across Osun State, the song on the lips of the people is one of “the messiah has come” to give the PDP creditability in presenting a formidable, acceptable and people-friendly candidate for the April 5th election. If in 1992 election in Osun State, Adeleke could coast home to victory, through the grace of God and the vast support of the electorate, nothing stops him now that he has gained wider political experience to fly the flag of the PDP.

    Osun PDP executive council, under the leadership of Alhaji Ganiy Ola-Oluwa, should not compromise itself or be biased against other aspirants, particularly Isiaka Adeleke. He should provide a level-playing field for all aspirants to test the water. There should not be any favouritism. Even if Ola-Oluwa has sympathy for a particular aspirant, he should play it down. The more, the merrier. Why did the Ganiy Ola-Oluwa executive council allow a particular aspirant to become the alter-ego of the PDP in Osun and in the process dictate who gets what as far as political patronages are concerned and at the expense of party elders. Any aspirant is free to parade the name of Vice President Sambo, if that will ease his case.

    All the cheap excuses being peddled by the Ganiy Ola-Oluwa executive council against Adeleke, such as financial membership’s status, should be thrown into the depth of the ocean, as they hold no water. This scheming has failed, as far as Adeleke is concerned.

    During the 2011 presidential election, Senator Isiaka Adeleke was the only politician of the PDP extraction who delivered his two local governments- Ede North and Ede South – to President Goodluck Jonathan. INEC archives will readily confirm this claim. What, therefore, is the false assertion that Senator Adeleke is working against the victory of Jonathan in 2015 through alleged interaction with APC chieftains? Cheap blackmail! This jittery measure by Adeleke’s opponents is unfortunate. They should discuss issues and not character assassination. Is anybody going to stop latter day entrant like Alhaji Lateef Akande Bakare from obtaining the PDP governorship forms? Ganiy Ola-Oluwa should know that the bigger the head, the bigger the headache – courtesy MKO Abiola of blessed memory.

    Adeleke, as an elder statesman, respects all shades of opinions as far as societal good of the people are concerned. His humanitarian and philanthropic gestures to all and sundry are legendary and cut across political divides. Adeleke is PDP personified in body and soul. He sleeps, dreams and thinks PDP 24/7.

    Adeleke is out for the good of the PDP and indeed the people of Osun State. He is now the rallying point for the party in Osun. For one thing, he is not prepared to join issues with political Lilliputians over trivialities. His focus is on getting the PDP ticket and becoming the next governor of Osun State.

    April 5 will settle the matter, when it will be a goal scored in a grand style by Isiaka Adeleke against concerted force of fate.

    •Lawal is the Media Adviser to Senator Isiaka Adeleke

  • Adeleke Varsity VC wins award

    Adeleke Varsity VC wins award

    The University of Texas at Austin has named Adeleke University’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ayandiji Daniel Aina as the winner of its 2013 Distinguished Public Service Award. The award was one of the four annual awards for the 13-year old African forum of the Texas varsity. The event took place on March 30, 2013.

    The opening paragraph of the citation for the award read: “A President of a university invariably lives a life of public service. However, for Dr Ayandiji Daniel Aina, this life of public service began long before his appointment as President and Vice-Chancellor of Adeleke University in 2011. Dr Aina’s commitment to the promotion of higher education in Nigeria is most admirable and worthy of emulation.”

    In the three-day event, Prof Aina, who was invited to chair two major panels at this years edition of the annual conference, presided over the panel focusing on education development where scholars from Africa, Europe and the United States explored the challenges of education as the bedrock of development. This was the theme of the conference, which explored political developments, religion and social movements in Africa.

    The award was witnessed by university administrators, scholars and researchers from Brazil, Canada, US, Jamaica, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Cameroon and Nigeria.

    Prof Femi Mimiko, Vice-Chancellor, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), who witnessed the occasion, praised the organisers for identifying Prof Aina, whom he referred to as a first class scholar and a thoroughbred academic.

    The recipient, Prof Aina, said: “This distinguished public service award given to me shall remain the doyen of recognition of my professional career and public service exploits and shall ginger me on to render quality service not minding the difficult challenges we daily face as African scholars.”

    He added: “I am most honoured by the fact that I became part of this 13-year old gathering of Africanists just seven years ago and have only attended four times, yet my contributions within and without were highlighted through this important recognition. It is evident that this award is an energizer, an added tool designed to assist someone with immense potential not to relent in the pursuit of greater exploits and in adding unquantifiable value to knowledge production and development of the African continent.”