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Tag: Ajimobi

  • Ajimobi has not anointed anyone, says Tegbe

    A senior partner at KPMG and governorship aspirant on the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in Oyo state, Joseph Tegbe, has declared that the incumbent governor of the state, Abiola Ajimobi, has neither endorsed nor anointed anyone to take over from him.

    He made the disclosure during a media parley, where he declared his political ambition, and visions of turning around the economic fortune of the state, if elected the next governor.

    Denying insinuations that he was invited into the governorship race by Ajimobi as his anointed successor, Tegbe recounted the many occasions that the governor said only God can anoint a person, and that it is the decision of the party to choose a candidate while he supports whosoever emerges.

    “I am close to Governor Ajimobi like every other person but I will borrow what Governor Ajimobi said and which he has repeated at different times and in different fora that he has not anointed anybody,” he said.

    Noting that he has been part of the Ajimobi administration, since its inception in 2011, when he served as a member of the economic team and consultant on economic policy, Tegbe expressed optimism, that if God anoints him to be the next governor of the state, nobody can stop him.

    He said his understanding of policies and socioeconomic trends puts him in good stead to assume office as governor at the Agodi Government House.

  • Ajimobi, Alaafin to grace GOtv Boxing Night 15

    Governor Isiaka Ajibola Ajimobi of Oyo State and the Alaafin Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi 111, are among several dignitaries expected to grace GOtv Boxing Night 15, which holds at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Obafemi Awolowo (formerly Liberty) Stadium in Ibadan on Sunday.

    Governor Ajimobi is expected to be the special guest, while the Alaafin, a famous boxing enthusiast, is expected to be the father of the day at the event. Also expected are authority figures in Nigerian boxing and sports in general.

    Speaking on the event, Jenkins Alumona, Managing Director of Flykite Promotions, organisers of the event, noted that Ibadan has a rich association with boxing. The city hosted the first world boxing title fight in Africa when Nigeria’s Dick Tiger beat Gene Fullmer to win the world middleweight boxing title at the Liberty Stadium in 1962.

    “Ibadan is one of Nigeria’s sporting cities. We have been there before with GOtv Boxing Night and we are happy to return to the iconic Liberty Stadium. We are happy to receive the governor and the royal father, who is a former boxer and remains a big supporter of the sport,” said Alumona.

    GOtv Boxing Night 15 will feature seven fights, including the African Boxing Union (ABU), lightweight title bout between incumbent champion, Oto “Joe Boy” Joseph of Nigeria and Ghana’s Nathaniel Nukpe. The fight line-up also includes an international light middleweight challenge between Akeem “Dodo” Sadiku of Nigeria and Franc Houanvoegbe of Benin Republic, a national challenge bout between ABU welterweight champion, Olaide “Fijaborn” Fijabi and Kazeem “Iberu” Ariyo; as well as a national cruiserweight clash between Michael “Lion Heart” Godwin and Idowu “ID Cabasa” Okusote,

    Prince “Lion” Nwoye will square up against Ridwan “Scorpion” Oyekola in a national lightweight duel; Vincent “Dada” Essien and Segun “Showboy” Olalehin will trade punches for a national light welterweight contest; while Daniel “Big Shark” Emeka and Sulaimon “Olags” Adeosun will slug it out in a national light heavyweight clash.

    The event, sponsored by GOtv and Bet King, will be beamed live on SuperSport in 47 African countries. The best boxer at the event will go home with a cash prize of N1 million alongside the Mojisola Ogunsanya Memorial Trophy.

  • Oyo APC crisis almost over, says Ajimobi

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi said yesterday that efforts were ongoing to end the post-congress crisis in the state chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    He said: “We have achieved about 75 per cent level of resolution and some people are already coming back. Some are aggrieved, rightly so; some are aggrieved; wrongly so.

    “But, the most important thing is to appreciate that in all human endeavours, there is bound to be conflicts and there is bound to be resolutions. As leaders, we must continue to accommodate, to give and take. But there will not be winner takes all.”

    The governor addressed reporters after a state-wide party leaders’ meeting at the APC state secretariat at Oke-Ado in Ibadan, the state capital.

    The three-hour meeting was attended by Deputy Governor Moses Adeyemo, House of Assembly Speaker Olagunju Ojo, former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala and a former Deputy Governor Iyiola Oladokun.

    Also at the meeting were members of the House of Representatives: Hakeem Adeyemi, Saheed Fijabi, Dada Awoleye, Gbenga Ayoade and Segun Odebunmi, as well as other APC leaders, led by the State Chairman, Chief Akin Oke.

    The governor said the meeting was called to evaluate the level of success recorded so far in reconciling the aggrieved members, who had earlier formed splinter groups, back to the party’s mainstream.

    Ajimobi expressed delight in what he called the high level of progress in the reconciliation move, adding that 75 per cent of those who left the party had been brought back into the fold.

    He said: “The meeting is about reconciliation. It is about talking with our leaders and about party politics generally. There will always be grievances; there will always be conflict.”

  • Ajimobi: I’ll do projects till my last day in office

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has assured the residents that his administration will continue to embark on life-changing legacy projects and programmes till next May when his tenure will end.

    The governor spoke yesterday during the inspection of the modernised Jericho Paediatric and Maternity Centre, a World Bank-assisted project of the state government under construction in Ibadan, the state capital.

    With the pace of work at the centre, Ajimobi said he was optimistic that it would be inaugurated by the end of the year to institute integrated and modernised health delivery services in the state.

    He said: “This centre is another testimony to the fact that ours is an administration noted for projects. We are not like some lazy governors who would have stopped embarking on projects a year before the end of their tenure and will instead be frolicking around.

    “We will work till the last day in office because that is why we were elected. I was not elected for seven years but eight years and it will be completed in May, next year, by the grace of God.

    “Our government is striving to bring a good standard of living to the people and this is not possible without good health delivery. That is why I am here. We must complete these projects in the next three to six months, at the most, and it will be opened to the general public.”

    The governor said the project, which he described as an integrated health delivery centre, would rival the popular University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan in service delivery, when completed.

    He added: “We are known for modernising Oyo State. We are not only modernising the state through the Education sector, we are also modernising the physical environment and, more importantly, we are modernising the health sector.

    “We believe that we should have here an integrated health service delivery centre where we can have a maternal and paediatric centre; where we will have tuberculosis centre and all centres related to health service delivery.

    “We want to make this another UCH, so to speak, where virtually everything will be integrated, where any service you want will be on the ground when it comes to health.”

  • Don’t politicise butchers’ relocation, Ajimobi tells opposition

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has cautioned opposition politicians to desist from playing politics with issues that impact on the welfare of the residents.

    In a statement yesterday in Ibadan, the state capital, by his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Bolaji Tunji, the governor’s warning came against the backdrop of insinuations that the relocation of butchers from the city to the central abattoir in Akinyele had ulterior motive.

    He said some politicians had been spreading false information on his administration’s efforts to sanitise the operations of the butchers and attain a high hygienic environment at the abattoir.

    The statement said: “…We wish to place on record that the original concept of the abattoir was muted by former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala’s administration, which also engaged the technical partner under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.

    “Also, when the present administration came on board, the governor ordered the review of the PPP agreement, which led to a reduction in the stake held by the technical partner from 70 per cent to 50 per cent, while various stakeholders, who had hitherto been excluded, were accommodated.

    “Under the new arrangement, the state government reduced its stake from 30 per cent to 10 per cent, conceding 36 per cent to the 11 local government areas in Ibadan and four per cent to the state butchers’ union.

    “It is, therefore, unfair and mischievous for any responsible political leader to attempt to mislead the public, through outright falsehood and deliberate distortion of facts, by suggesting that the governor has personal interest in the project and its operations.

    “Heading a government that is completely committed to the welfare of the people, Ajimobi chose to put the interest of the people over personal and political considerations by insisting on relocating the butchers from the unhygienic environment in the city where they currently operate and which poses a threat of epidemic to the citizenry.

    “We seize this opportunity to encourage media organisations to carry out their independent investigations on the current state of the abattoirs in Ibadan and also the new facility that government has provided.”

  • We will arrest those who burned Bodija station, Ajimobi vows

    Oyo state Governor Abiola Ajimobi has vowed that all the criminal suspects that burnt and damaged vehicles in a police station located inside Bodija market, Ibadan would be arrested, prosecuted and made to pay for the damages.

    The governor made the vow while addressing market leaders, members of the executive council, traders, security operatives and traders during an inspection visit to the Bodija market, Friday.

    A crisis had erupted at the market when members of the state chapter of National Butchers Association of Nigerian (NUBN) engaged the police in a shootout, following government directive to move all butchers in the capital city to a central abattoir.

    The mayhem left in its trail, four dead person, five burnt cars, three damaged vehiclea and scores of traders injured. The crisis led to government sealing off the Bodija market with immediate effect to prevent total breakdown of law and order.

    Read Also: Oyo shuts Bodija market 

    Governor Ajimobi who was welcomed to the scene of the incident by the state commissioner of Police, Abiodun Odude, the market leaders and leaders of the butchers association commended the people of the state for their support to the government over the years, a feat which has encouraged the administration to continue its good work.

    He told the audience that government had engaged the butchers and all other relevant stakeholders in all the processes that led to the decision to relocate the abattoirs within the capital city to a new central location, located in Amosun Village, Akinyele local government.

    The governor recounted that all along, all the stakeholders had given their nod to the arrangement, particularly the ownership arrangement between the state government, a private company, the 11 LGAs in the capital city and the butchers association, expressing shock at the sudden refusal of some people to comply with an agreement reached after years of engagement.

    He warned that he would not allow the state slide back into its years of gory past when brigandage, lawlessness and impunity rules, charging the market leader to immediately embark on a sensitisation effort of all the traders, particularly the butchers.

    He added that the state has nothing against the butchers just like all other trade association but wanted the butchery activities to be carried out in a modern, hygienic and friendly market.

    He said, “We are pleased at the level of compliance with the seal off order of the market. We are shocked that’s some butchers engaged in violent attack on people and even on a police station.

    “We will make sure we arrest, prosecute and make them to pay for the damages. We will not tolerate them taking us back to past years of brigandage and violence. We are a peaceful state and we will not condone lawlessness.

    “In 1972 when the government of the day directed a relocation of the Gege abattoir to the Bodija market abattoir, some people also resisted it. Now we asked them to go a better facility again, they are resisting. Must they politicise everything?

    “For every progressive and positive government policies and decisions, you with always find some disgruntled elements fomenting trouble and playing politics with everything. We will not allow them, we won’t tolerate it. Our government is known for peace and that is what we will uphold.”

    Governor Ajimobi who also visited the Amosun abattoir to commend the section of the butchers who complied with the relocation directive appealed to the members to talk to their other colleagues who are disrupting the peace of the state, warning that his administration will condone criminality from any quarters, particularly those being used by politicians.

    When Saturday Nation visited the Bodija market, remnants of unpacked goods items were still seen littering the entire market sections. All the shops were still seen under lock and keys with many wares scattered all over the market.

    Many security operatives both in uniform and plain cloths were seen patrolling the market with Armoured Personnel Carriers stationed at strategic places in the market.

    Although no trading activities were on, many traders were seen loitering around with the hope that the market would be reopened soon.

  • Ajimobi hosts OYOMESI Festival of Learning

    The maiden edition of the OYOMESI Festival of Learning will begin today in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, till July 5.

    The week-long event is organised to mark the one year anniversary of the implementation of the Oyo State Model Education System Interventions (OYOMESI) agenda in the state and bring together learners, teachers, educators and businesses who are committed to improving the quality of education and learning in our state.

    The event, which will be hosted by Governor Abiola Ajimobi, aims at promoting learning as a lifelong activity and necessity for all.

    It is in support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) learning city status conferred on Ibadan in October 2016.

    This makes it mandatory for other regions in the state to become learning neighbourhoods while the government strives to achieve the qualifying criteria for a UNESCO Learning City Progress Award.

    A statement yesterday in Ibadan by the Office of the Special Advise on Education, Dr Bisis Akin-Alabi, said the Festival of Learning will allow a wider audience of teachers, educators and businesses to collaborate and network with one another.

    The statement said it will also enable participants to learn new approaches to classroom practices and inspire their pupils.

    It is an opportunity to market products and engage with other stakeholders, the statement added.

    Participants, it said, will also have the chance to hear different perspectives on education from keynote speakers.

    The statement said: “As part of the anniversary activities, we will be hosting the OYOMESI first Hackathon in collaboration with WestAfricaENRG, a leading environmental services company. It is primarily a themed event aimed at students from our tertiary institutions, technology enthusiasts and communities.

    “It is a gathering where programmers, software developers, engineers, graphic designers, interface designers, project managers, marketers and subject matter experts collaboratively code in an extreme manner over a short period of time to come up with innovative solutions to problems or challenges.”

  • Ajimobi to establish centre for street kids, orphans

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has promised to establish a child welfare centre to cater for street children and orphans.

    The governor spoke yesterday in Ibadan, the state capital, while hosting members of the new governing board of the University College Hospital (UCH), led by its Chairman, Alhaji Bagudu Shettima.

    He said the centre would also address the health and social needs of other vulnerable people in the state.

    Ajimobi said: “The general wellbeing of the people of Oyo State is one of the top priorities of our administration. That is why we have invested heavily on health facilities and evolved policies in the Health sector, which are today being emulated by other states across the country.”

    The governor said it was the same gesture that led to the establishment of Access to Basic (Health) Care (ABC) Foundation by his wife, Chief Florence Ajimobi, through which, he said, many less privileged people had been assisted at no cost.

     

  • Greed, bane of progressive politics in Nigeria, says Ajimobi

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has said greed and desperation to amass wealth by political players was alien to the progressive politics during the era of the former Premier of defunct Western Region, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    The governor spoke at Jobele in Afijio Local Government Area during a condolence visit to the family of an All Progressives Congress (APC) leader at Jobele in Oyo Central Senatorial District, Pa Samuel Ogundiran.

    Ahead of next year’s general elections, he urged political parties to scrutinise themselves and do integrity checks for aspirants jostling for their tickets.

    The governor advised those with the political wherewithal to throw their hats into the ring.

    Ajimobi described the late politician as “one of the last men standing” among the disciples of the late Awolowo who embraced progressives politics till death.

    He said: “Chief Awolowo maintained his stand in politics, despite pressures from the centre and his followers, like Pa Ogundiran, would remain resolute on their ideology.

    “Progressive politics is today riddled with greed. It is no more the same progressives we used to know; it is all about money now. If you gave them money yesterday and you have none to give them today, you will be called names.

    “Baba died when his wisdom on progressive politics was still needed. He was a core progressive politician. I urge his children and youths to emulate the good deeds of Baba.

    “I also want to say that politicians aspiring for political offices must be thoroughly screened from home to know them better before they can even get the ticket. Most aspirants do not have the discipline and decorum to lead others.”

    Ajimobi, who also described himself as a progressive politician, said his brand of politics places emphasis on winning elections, like APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari.

  • Congresses: Oke Ogun zone declares support for Ajimobi

    Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Oke-Ogun zone of Oyo State on Saturday held a mega solidarity rally to declare support for Governor Abiola Ajimobi. The rally, which was attended by all the local government and LCDA chairmen in the zone, the state party executive, government functionaries, political appointees from the region, women groups and thousands of party members, drawn from each of the ten local governments of Oke Ogun, held at Saki, the headquarters of Saki West local government.

    Addressing the party members at the event, the State Commissioner for Works and Transport, Wasiu Dauda, said the rally was organised to show their support for the outcomes of the recently conducted APC congresses in the state. He said that the National Working Committee of the party has cleared the air about the purported parallel congresses staged by some aggrieved party members by inaugurating the Akin Oke-led state executive committee.

    He assured the people that the NWC only recognised the  congress which held at the Lekan Salami Sports Complex because it was the only congress conducted by the Congress Committees set up by the National  leaders of the party. He added that although few people might be been very unsatisfied with the outcome, the rule of the game in any democracy is that the majority will always have their way.

    In his address, the Oke Ogun APC leader, Chief Samuel Adekola, appealed to the members of APC Unity Forum to drop their intention of decamping to another party. He boasted that APC would win convincingly in Oyo state come 2019 general elections.

    A party leader from Iwajowa local government area, Chief Adeleke Aduronibioda, said the Oke Ogun APC is waxing stronger day by day and is formidable to beat the opposition parties in the 2019 general elections.