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Tag: Akeredolu

  • Akeredolu, lawmaker eulogise Buhari at 76

    As President Muhammadu Buhari marks 76th birthday on Monday, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo and Rep. Umar Bago have called for prayers to support the president’s resilience in nation building.

    Akeredolu sought the support and prayers of Nigerians for Buhari to enable him serve the country better.

    In statement by Mr. Olusegun Ajiboye, his Chief Press Secretary, Akeredolu
    joined millions of Nigerians to congratulate Buhari on his birthday.

    Akeredolu also congratulated Nigerians for having Buhari as their president at this difficult time.

    He expressed confidence that the president was celebrating his 76th birthday with calmness, love and robust service to his fatherland.

    He said the president’s commitment to the development of Nigeria as the largest black African nation was increasingly yielding the expected results.

    “I am soliciting more Nigerians’ support and prayers for the President to enable him to serve the country better,” he said.

    On his part the lawmaker described Buhari as a committed progressive concerned with the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.

    Bago in a statement commended the president for his political commitment in the ongoing fight against corruption, insurgency, cattle rustling, and sectarian crisis.

    According to him, such positive development will continue to provide enable environment for the country’s growth.

    ” Mr President has succeeded in repositioning the country for the better, especially in the areas of security, transportation, roads construction, agriculture and diversification of the economy.

    ” President Buhari has proved beyond reasonable doubt to be honest, sincere and committed to the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians, irrespective of political, tribal and ethnic differences.

    ” Our dear nation still has more to reap from his wealth of experience and deep wisdom in its journey to greatness.

    ” I am pleased to join your family and other well-wishers in thanking God for blessing you with the strength and wisdom to live a fulfilling life of honest, commitment to the well-being of all ordinary Nigerians, “he told President Buhari.

    ” At 76, your contributions to national growth have remained undiminished as you continue to fearlessly lend your strong voice and strategic support to the genuine efforts toward making our nation great.

    “I pray that God will still keep you longer to play greater role in the stabilisation of our country. Your life has been one of great sacrifices for the unity and progress of our country.

    ” From your days as a military head of state to a civilian President, you envisioned a great nation where everyone will be well accommodated and freely pursue his or her aspirations.

    “For this, you have worked, and still working to keep Nigeria united and Nigerians happier through democratic governance.”

  • Our target of supplying potable water to all achievable – Akeredolu

    The water supply programme of the Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu administration in Ondo State, received a major boost during the week, when the governor commissioned a scheme, to supply water to the people of Ayede Ogbese, in Akure North Local Government Area of the state.

    The scheme is part of the state government’s efforts to realise the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) by 2030.

    The governor, while addressing the people, said his administration embarked on the project, following a revelation that the percentage of public water supply in the state was less than four percent.

    He said 200 water points are already being constructed across the community as part of the first phase of the scheme, vowing that his administration would stop at nothing to ensure that the lives of the people improve.

    The water scheme is designed to have 5km reticulation and distribution network with a storage tank of 50m capacity, that would discharge at full capacity, twice a day, with 100 public standpipes, 200 fetching points while one fetching point will serve 50 people.

    The governor said: “As part of our avowed commitment to improving the well being of our people, our administration embarked upon a two-pronged approach to revitalize Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Ondo State, with special focus on rural and urban water supply utilizing slightly different strategies.

    “We therefore, came up with Kamomi Concept, which has brought on board the ongoing rehabilitation of all non-functional boreholes.

    “A major component of Kamomi which is the expansion of new water facilities to increase water access is what we are commissioning today.”

    Akeredolu, however, expressed optimism that the new initiative would eradicate open defecation among other health challenges facing the people.

    He added that the Ondo State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RUWASSA) has been empowered to partner individuals, corporate organisations and donor agencies to promote and support investment in water projects across the state.

    The governor said: “Our government will endeavor to put necessary machinery in place to attract development partners and investments leveraging Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) arrangement to achieve our target in WASH for the people of Ondo State.

    Speaking earlier, the Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, made passionate appeal to governments at all levels to ensure access to adequate water supply and sanitation to avoid its consequences.

    Adamu praised the governor for the initiative, which he said would help in eradicating the problems associated with open defecation.

    Also, Chairman of Ondo State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA), Yetunde Adeyanju, said the scheme is an innovation with new direction and sustainable plan for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector.

    She added that it will optimally utilise underground water, unlike the stand-alone motorised and hand pump boreholes, that would serve lesser population.

    Adeyanju further explained, that, the scheme is to improve, sustain and expand safe water supply to over 3,000 communities in the state.

  • Akeredolu approves new local govt caretaker chairmen

    •Assembly confirms appointment

    Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu yesterday approved the appointment of the new interim management committee chairmen for the 18 local government areas of the state.

    This followed yesterday’s ratification of the list by the House of Assembly.

    A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary (CPS) Segun Ajiboye said the chairmen are: Rafiu Eniayewu (Akoko Northeast), Yomi Babatunde (Akoko Southeast), Ayodele Akande (Akoko Northwest), Augustine Olatunji (Akoko Southwest), Adebayo Benjamin (Owo), Agboola Ajike (Ose), Gbenga Olaniyi Michael (Akure South), Gabriel Bankole Ogbesetore, (Akure South) and Alex Oladimeji (Ifedore).

    Others are: Biyi Ayanuola (Idanre), Akinkuote Olawale (Ondo East), Ebenezer Akinsulire (Ondo West), Ikumawoyi Babatunde Samuel (Odigbo), Akinsuroju Michael (Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo), Ojo Omolewa (Eseodo), Otito Atikase (Ilaje),

    Morenike Alaka (Okitipupa) and Gbadebo Adimoye (Irele).

    Also, the House of Assembly confirmed interim/caretaker committees for the 18 local government areas.

    The lawmakers at the plenary, presided over by Speaker Bamidele Oleyelogun, unanimously confirmed the 18 caretaker chairmen.

    The confirmation followed a letter sent to the Assembly by the governor, requesting for the confirmation the appointment of the nominees.

    The lawmaker representing Akoko North West, Jamiu Maito, moved the motion for the confirmation of the interim/caretaker committees.

    It was seconded by Tuyi Akintimehin, representing Idanre.

    Oleyelogun put the motion to a voice vote, which was unanimously agreed to by the lawmakers.

  • Ondo to offset accumulated gratuities, pension, says Akeredolu

    Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has promised that his administration will start clearing accumulated gratuities of retired workers as from January with the remaining arrears of pension.

    Akeredolu spoke in Akure, the state capital, while addressing the state retirees on the occasion of National Pensioners’ Day celebration with a theme: Pension Without Tension, Without Tears: A Task That Must Be Accomplished By The Union In The Years Ahead.

    Represented by his Special Adviser (SA) on Labour Matters, Alaba Isijola, the governor said necessary machineries were being put in place to ensure that Ondo State pensioners get their pension and gratuities regularly.

    Majority of retired workers since 2011 are yet to collect their gratuities while local government pensioners are also being owed three months’ pension and the state pensioners are being owed one monthly pension.

    Akeredolu said: “We inherited seven months’ pension arrears from the previous administration. But as at today, we have cleared almost everything. On the gratuities, the government has mapped out strategies of paying affected pensioners as from January. So, rest assured that Mr Governor will not promise what he cannot do. His love for workers and our fathers – retirees – is unequalled.”

    The state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Chief Raphael Adetuwo, urged President Muhammadu Buhari and governors to implement a section of the 1999 Constitution which stipulates an upward review of pension to enable them cope with economic realities in the country.

    Adetuwo noted that the continuous violation of Section 173, subsections 3 and 210 (3) of the Constitution by governments had exposed many retirees to untold hardship.

    According to him, some of them collect ridiculous pension, like N2,000 to N5,000 monthly.

    He said: “Besides, it is inhumane that there are still some pensioners whose monthly pension is less than N5,000 while many receive over N500,000 monthly.”

     

  • APC leaders urge Akeredolu to unite party

    Ahead of 2019 election, a group within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, has urged Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to summon a meeting with leaders of various factional groups within the ruling party to mend fences. The group consists of members of the 2016 Aketi gubernatorial campaign team, chaired by former Chairman, Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, (OSOPADEC) Chief Adewale Omojuwa.

    At a meeting held in Oba-ile, Akure North local government, the group also called on the governor to warn members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state against attacking innocent people at any event. The politicians decried the alleged disruption of the proceedings at the state assembly recently where many people ,including journalists, were allegedly injured by NURTW members.

    It expressed displeasure over the use of thugs and external militia to cause pandemonium during political and or party programmes such as congresses and stakeholders’ meetings. In a communique jointly signed by Omojuwa and General Secretary, Teniola Oladele, the group expressed the need for Akeredolu to devise a means of bringing all aggrieved groups in the party together as one united and indivisible political family.

    On the post-primary crisis in the state, it advised the governor to direct APC State Working Committee(SWC) to refund money paid for nomination of forms by the councillorship and chairmanship aspirants since the candidates had been picked. “We implore the SWC to ensure refund of various sums of money to members who were deprived of participating in the party primaries, such as N200,000 for House of Assembly aspirants and N300,000 for Representatives.”

     

  • Akeredolu gives N550m loan to women, artisans

    Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) yesterday released N550 million loan to market women, entrepreneurial groups and cooperatives societies.

    He said the measure was part of his administration’s efforts to tackle poverty, banish hunger and create wealth across the state.

    Akeredolu spoke at the launch of Apalara Micro-Credit Loan Scheme and presentation of N550 million cheques for the empowerment of various groups and associations in Akure, the state capital.

    The governor said the scheme was conceived to sensitise, re-orientate and inculcate the spirit of self-reliance and self-sustenance in the residents.

    Akeredolu, who was briefed when he assumed office about various loan regimes in the micro-credit agency and the humongous backlog of unrecovered loans disbursed by previous governments in the state, spurred the agency to embark on a strategic plan to address lapses identified in past governments’ loan administration.

    The governor noted that the task of the agency gave birth to the new brand, called “Apalarab Micro-Credit Loan Scheme”.

    He said: “The scheme is to inculcate in our people the spirit to properly utilise credit facilities obtained from the state’s micro-credit agency, particularly on the need for them to appreciate the fact that funds disbursed should not be taken as their own share of the national cake.

    “As a fallout of our determination to lift the people of Ondo State out of poverty in the land, N550 million has been approved by our administration to be disbursed to various groups and individuals at a single digit interest rate.”

    Of the total sum, market women are to get N357.5 million (65 per cent), while men will get N192.5 million (35 per cent).

    Akeredolu said the state government had evolved a well-articulated credit management system for loan beneficiaries to ensure efficient risk management to guide against defaults so that Apalara loan scheme would be sustained.

    The governor urged the beneficiaries to genuinely apply the money.

    He added that the route to poverty eradication is through hard work, efficient management of available financial resources and positive attitude to life.

    The Chief of Imam of Akure, Alhaji Yayi Akorede, and beneficiaries of the loan scheme hailed the governor’s initiative.

    The Chief Imam described Akeredolu as a good leader in the distribution of government’s programmes to the people.

     

  • Ondo Assembly warns Akeredolu against interference over Paris Club Fund, 2018 budget

    The Ondo State Assembly has accused Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of interfering with the legislative functions of the State Assembly over Paris Club Fund recently released to the State.

    Majority Leader of the State Assembly, Araoyinbo Olugbenga, while addressing the media at the weekend in Abuja blamed the Governor for inducing selected lawmakers to reorder the 2018 budget solely because of the fund.

    The lawmaker queried why the State Governor had to use the minority members of the State Assembly including two suspended and allegedly impeached Speaker of the Assembly to hurriedly recall and further passed the state 2018 appropriation.

    Olugbenga, who spoke alongside the Chairman, House Committee on Information,  Rt. Hon. Olotu Fatai described the act as illegal and such that could jeopardise interest of the state.

    According to him, the recalled budget was passed by eight lawmakers who were less than two third of the entire Assembly, thus unconstitutional to laws of the state.

    His Words: “Ondo State people are not incapacitated not to ask deep questions about the Paris club fund after thought explanation. The fact that six members and two suspended and impeached ones presided over the financial matters call for questions.

    “Minority members cannot reorder the budget so speedily even as government urged and induced them financially to do so. They were spending incurred outside the existing 2018 appropriation law. We asked to be allowed to vet the budget performance for proper accountability in line with rules of the house but the government became jittery.”

    He alleged further that, “the impeached and suspended leadership have been too compromising against the interest of the masses. All the invasions done to ensure the forceful passage of the governor’s reordering is in direct connection with the NURTW illegal activities within the hallowed chamber”.

    However, the lawmakers called for the intervention of appropriate authorities and urged the state governor to obey the principles of separation of power in government.

  • Governor’s wife advocates more cancer awareness

    Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, wife of Ondo State Governor, has called on non-governmental organisations to raise awareness on cancer and its impact in the country.

    She made this call in Abuja at a music and comedy fund raising show organised by Project Pink Blue, a cancer non-profit campaign organisation.

    Mrs Akeredolu, a breast cancer survivor, noted that cancer can be defeated when people are enlightened about the ailment and the need to go for regular checkups.

    According to her, the idea of referring the ailment to spiritual attack is contributing to the high rate of preventable deaths in the country.

    “I am a 21 years cancer survivor and I am still alive, but the entry point to defeating cancer is education.

    “Education is very important in the fight against any type of cancer but in this our environment, we are held back by all sort of misconceptions on what causes cancer and how it can be treated.

    “We attribute it to spiritual attack, so instead of going to the hospital, we keep going to prayer mountain thereby wasting time.

    “People do not know that early detection is the key but we find out that by the time victims report to the hospital, their cases would have gotten to Stage 3 or Stage 4,” she said.

    She also called on Nigerians to make financial support to the treatment of cancer victims in the country.

    A male breast cancer survivor, Mr Chuks Igbokwe, advised Nigerians to regularly check themselves of lumps in their breast area and also go to the hospital for mammogram check.

    “The public should be aware that breast cancer is not exclusive to females only but men can also be victims of it.
    “I implore everyone to always check themselves and also get themselves enlightened about the disease,” he said.

    Fund were raised by ‘auctioning’ various celebrities and artists in the entertainment industry at the event.

    The celebrities include Alex Unusual, Rachael Okoronkwo, Kemen, Ex-Mr Nigeria Bryan Okwara and Denrele Edun.

    NAN

  • I remain committed to workers’ welfare, says Akeredolu

    Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has pledged his administration’s commitment to the promotion of civil servants’ welfare.

    The governor, who addressed reporters at the weekend in Akure, the state capital, recalled that he pledged to run a worker-friendly government during the electioneering period in 2016.

    He said the pledge informed his decision to pay the inherited salaries owed by the immediate-past administration.

    When Akeredolu assumed office in February, last year, the state’s civil servants were being owed seven months’ salary arrears.

    But his administration is currently up-to-date in the payment of salaries to the workers, while four of the seven months’ arrears have be cleared.

    He promised to pay the remaining three months’ arrears soon.

    Akeredolu said: “It is only a wicked leader who will deny workers their entitlements. To us, our intention is to serve the people and make their entitlements our priority.

    “We have not owed our able workers a dime since we assumed office and we are not ready to owe them, no matter what happens.”

    The governor recently approved the promotion of deserving workers to their next levels as part of his administration’s commitment to workers’ progress.

    He also elevated 16 deserving senior civil servants to the position of permanent secretary at once.

    Within the same period, Akeredolu equally approved about N943 million as car and housing loans for interested workers to boost their morale.

    Last week, civil servants in Ondo State got credit alerts for the payment of last year’s leave bonus.

    Describing the civil servants as partners in progress, Akeredolu also sought their continued cooperation.

    He urged them to always approach issues with painstaking dialogue.

  • Akeredolu rescues accident victims

    Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State yesterday  rescued some accident victims on  the Owo/Ikare highway.

    Involved in the accident was an  18-seater Toyota Haice bus with registration number FKJ 155 XM which was  on its way from Abuja to Lagos.

    It was allegedly swept off the road by a trailer whose river did not even bother to stop.

    The governor, who was returning from a project tour of the Oba- Ikun Akoko Bridge met the helpless victims on the road and ordered that the injured be taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Owo. Other passengers who were not seriously injured were taken to the hospital in another bus.

    While narrating the incident, one of the victims (name withheld) said the trailer which was coming from the Owo end swept their vehicle off the road and the driver continued his journey.