Tag: Aiyedatiwa

Ondo state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has said that his administration would build two new model technical schools as well as upgrade existing ones in the state to promote the acquisition of technical skills among the youths.

Governor Aiyedatiwa said the building of the technical schools was part of his administration’s plans to ensure the youths were equipped with different skills.

Aiyedatiwa spoke at the launching of the Youth One Skill project as part of the celebration of the 2024 World Youth Skills Day.

Represented by his deputy, Governor Aiyedatiwa, said the project was an innovative approach to getting young people to acquire skills needed to be self-reliant and globally competitive.

Read Also: You’re worthless if those around you benefit nothing from your wealth – Paul Okoye

He said his administration would explore opportunities and partner with the private sector as well as development partners to build the capacity of the unemployed youth for sustainable job creation.

“We are putting machinery in place to build two new model technical schools and upgrade the existing ones in the state to promote the acquisition of technical skills among our youths” the governor affirmed.

“Having realised the need to promote investments in young people and develop youth-centric programs, we will continue to open up avenues for political participation and adequate youth representation in his government.”

Ondo Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Saka Yusuf Ogunleye, said the state government was living up to the expectations of young people in the state.

Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Youth Empowerment and Job Creation, Orioye Gbayisemore, said there was a readiness to transform the youths into dependable drivers of peace and development.

Governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon Agboola Alfred Ajayi, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Otunba Bamidele Akingboye, have berated Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for setting up Transition Committees for the 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and the 18 local government areas.

Ajayi, a former deputy governor, said Aiyedatiwa didn’t know that the Supreme Court would nullify the process.

Ajayi, who praised Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy, said the law presently recognised 18 local government areas.

He said it was leadership inefficiency and leadership failure that made Aiyedatiwa not conduct local government elections but opt to appoint transition committees.

He said: “In law, as it is today, Ondo state has 18 Local Government Areas.We expect them to conduct the election but the next we saw was the notification of LCDAs and that was part of their inefficiency and leadership failure.

“This morning again, we heard that they have appointed members of the caretaker committee to all the nullified 33 LCDAs and the 18 local government areas structures of Ondo state.

“We keep repeating that what they are doing to the local government administration in Ondo state is wrong and criminal. They should allow local government administration to be run by the people at their various local government levels the Supreme Court has spoken this morning and we want to thank the Supreme Court for putting a final decision on this matter.

“Any government that is now doing otherwise is not just killing democracy but amounts to contempt of court and that is exactly what our governor has done.”

“You could recall also that a competent court in this state has given a verdict, nullifying the creation of the 33 LCDAs that was created by our late governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu but what we read today was that the present government has come up with their own actions.

“And we are appealing to the government to stop embarrassing the good people of Ondo state, they should correct what is wrong so that we can meet the standard, they should protect the constitution, they can’t just say that what the court said is not concerned them.

Read Also: PDP, activist, knock Aiyedatiwa over transition committee for LCDAs, LGs

“Ondo Government should please stop embarrassing us, we are law-abiding. What they might have done wrong, they should go and correct it. If you want to provide jobs for your boys, your party members, he (Aiyedatiwa) should give them legal jobs. You can’t just put something on us and you expect it to stand.”

Akingboye, on his part, urged Aiyedatiwa not to commit any illegality by recognising what the court declared as illegal, null, and void.

Otunba Akingboye said the action of Governor Aiyedatiwa was capable of plunging the state into a needless crisis

He called for the dissolution of the board of the Ondo Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) over its inability to conduct local elections since 2023.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State has condemned the setting up of Transition Committees for the nullified 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and 18 Local Government Areas by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

Aiyedatiwa, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Ebenezer Adeniran, said the transition committees were to oversee the affairs of the LGs and LCDAs in the State until the conduct of local government election.

Aiyedatiwa said his administration was examining concerns raised by some communities over the delineations carried out during the creation of the LCDAs with a view to making the necessary amendments.

But the Ondo PDP said Governor Aiyedatiwa disrespected the judgment of an Ondo High Court which nullified the creation of the 33 LCDAs.

 “Therefore, it is the height of lawlessness and impunity for Aiyedatiwa to appoint Committees for LCDAs that are non-existent in the eyes of the law.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ondo State Chapter wishes to advise the Governor to respect the laws of the land and stop embarrassing the people of the state with his actions that make us laughing stock in the comity of civilised people,” the statement reads.

A lawyer and human rights activist, Tope Temokun, said any other body, committee constituted to oversee the affairs of the local governments, other than democratically elected body was a nullity.

Read Also: Aiyedatiwa releases N1b to pay gratuity

He said the actions of Aiyedatiwa conflicted with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

Temokun, in a statement, said the setting up of a caretaker committee in disguise has been ‘notoriously condemned and rejected by the people and the court across state boundaries.’  

He said the system of Local Government by democratically elected Local Government Councils was what the constitution recognised and guaranteed.

According to the statement, “Governor Aiyedatiwa owes the people many explanations on this new path of deliberate illegality he has chosen to toe and should address the people why he is building the new foundation of Ondo State government on a notorious illegality.

“He should tell the people if he had demanded explanations from the State Independent Electoral Commissions, ODIEC, why it is postponing elections into the local councils and he should tell us the answers he got. He should explain to the people of Ondo state if ODIECs postponement of election is not a charade, a scam and an arrangement to create a justification for this aberration.

“This is uncreative, very uncreative. Why resorting to a stale trick to govern people who are already wise?”

Hon Justice A.O Adebusuoye, had last month, ruled that the 33 LCDAs created by late former Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was inchoate and unlawfully created.

 The Court held that the Local Government Creation Law 2023 was unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.

The Alauga of Auga in Akoko Northeast local government, Oba Samuel Agunloye, has urged Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to revive the now abandoned and moribund agricultural village established in the community by the administration of Olusegun Mimiko.

Ona Agunloye said the Auga Agricultural village, with vast agricultural and arable land, was a pilot project where farmers would be trained on mechanized farming.

Agunloye, who spoke in an interview, stated that the purpose of setting up the project has become a mirage while the place is a shadow of itself.

Read Also: It’s shameful we are still generating 4.5GW electricity – Tinubu

He also called on the federal government to revolutionize the country with massive involvement in agriculture.

The Auga Monarch appealed to President Bola Tinubu to give marching orders to states and local governments to get involved in agriculture so as to bail the citizens from hunger, poverty, and squalor.

According to him, “If Nigerians are able to feed ourselves, our economic and security problems will be reduced drastically.

“The youths need to show interest in farming. This will reduce the idea of looking for white collar jobs that are no longer available.”

Ondo state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has released the sum of N1bn for payment of gratuity arrears to local government workers and primary school teachers who retired in 2012.

Ondo commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, Amidu Takuro, said the beneficiaries would start receiving payment from Tuesday.

Takuro said the release of the money was to ensure gratuities of retirees are paid unblock rather than piecemeal.

Takuro said that Governor Aiyedatiwa was sensitive to the plight of the people, especially retired civil servants.

Read Also: Many injured as herdsmen attack Amotekun officers in Ondo

He said: “The first tranche of the bulk payment of gratuities arrears was paid late last year, by the immediate past governor of the state, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

“In continuation of this good work, His Excellency, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Ayedatiwa has decided not only to continue in this trend but to make it quarterly. He has been alive to his responsibilities as regards payment of Pensions, Salaries of Workers and other entitlements.”

He urged the retirees and the entire workforce to support the Lucky Aiyedatiwa-led administration.

The Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers Independent Council ((LACO-FSIC) at the weekend cautioned the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State against utterances capable of pitching the executive arm of the government against the judicial arm, as both operate separately.

The Campaign Council gave the upbraid in a statement on Saturday by its Director of Contact and Engagement,  Dr. Marindoti Oludare.

He reacted in response to the persistence of the PDP candidate,  Agboola Ajayi, that Governor Aiyedatiwa should have prevented some communities from filing a suit that led to the nullification of 33 Local Council Development Areas, by an Akure High Court.

Replying, Oludare said: “In response to the ongoing and intractable criticism by the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Agboola Ajayi, regarding the recent court judgment, we must address the fundamental flaws in his understanding of basic democratic principles, the separation of powers, and the role of the executive arm in our state.

He noted further, saying: “Mr. Ajayi’s persistent blame on Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for a judicial decision reveals a worrying misconception of the governor’s role and the independence of the judiciary.

Read Also: It’s shameful we are still generating 4.5GW electricity – Tinubu

“This misguided belief that Governor Aiyedatiwa should interfere in the judicial process is not only undemocratic but also dangerous, as it suggests that Mr. Ajayi intends to undermine the very foundation of our democracy by expecting executive overreach.

According to him, the crucial part of the court ruling addressed the legality of a sitting governor signing laws outside the seat of power in Akure and that Ajayi’s opposition to this ruling indicates his intention, if elected, to govern from outside the state, essentially becoming an absentee governor.

Oludare, a United States-based medic, added: “His (Ajayi’s) continuous criticism of the governor over a judicial order, which is an expression of democracy, further demonstrates his desire to dictate terms, showcasing a dictatorial tendency that the people of Ondo State should be wary of.”

 “Mr. Ajayi’s inability to shift his focus from this matter, despite being described as dull and morose by those closest to him, highlights a troubling intellectual deficiency.”

Ondo Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has said the priority of his administration is to ensure food security. 

Governor Aiyedatiwa said he is pursuing the agenda with genuine commitment.

He said his administration would soon roll out new programmes in the agriculture sector that would benefit every player in the value chain.

The Ondo Governor spoke while addressing Ebira farmers at the Palace of the Ohinoyi of Ebira in Owo, Owo local government area.

Represented by his Deputy, Dr. Olayide Adelami, Aiyedatiwa assured the Ebira farmers of adequate support to ensure food security in the country.

“Top on the agenda of Mr Governor is food security and we are pursuing it with a lot of commitment. We have programmes for every socio-economic category in the society. We need your unreserved cooperation.

“This overwhelming support speaks volume and we will never take it for granted. I will go back home and report to my principal all that I have seen here,” he said. 

The Ohonoyi of Ebira in Owo, Isa Ahmed, who thanked the Governor for the visit, said the Ebira community would support the APC in the November 16th governorship election.

Isa described Governor Aiyedatiwa as a de-tribalised leader who has been fair to all, regardless of ethnic, religious and political affiliations.

Read Also: Aiyedatiwa signs law to increase judges to 35

“He is our son, in whom we are well pleased” the Ohinoyi spoke of Adelami.

“Yours is a victory ticket,” he said

The Ohinoyi prayed for the success of the November governorship election in the state, and for the victory of the governor.

Spokesmen for the community, Isa Onimisi, said the Ebira people were predominantly farmers, who have been contributing greatly to food security in the state.

He called for more representation of the Ebiras in government.