The Nation Newspaper

Tag: alliance

  • Nigerian, Ghanaian firms forge strategic alliance

    Nigerian, Ghanaian firms forge strategic alliance

    ALP NG & Co Nigeria, in solidifying its partnerships across Africa, has allied with Ghana-based full-service Pan-African firm, Africa Legal Associates (ALA).

    ALA is renowned for its expertise across various sectors.

    The partnership widens the ALP International practice group of firms across the continent.

    Founded in 2015 by Nana Adjoa Hackman and Gabby Otchere-Darko, ALA has garnered a reputation for its multidisciplinary professional services, which mirrors the profile of ALP NG & Co.

    Read Also: Sexy Ghanaian policewomen!

    Both ALP NG & Co and ALA hold membership in the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC), with Senior Partner, Gabby Otchere-Darko serving as the Country Chair CWEIC Ghana and Olasupo Shasore (SAN), Senior Partner at ALP NG & Co, serving as the Country Chair CWEIC Nigeria.

    Alongside ALP Advocates Uganda and ALP East Africa (Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, and Tanzania), the ALP International Practice Group will leverage its collective strengths to provide comprehensive services and resources across West and East Africa.

    The firms said the alliance intends to foster a robust legal and professional solutions footprint across the continent and to champion the objectives of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).

    In a joint communique, the alliance stated: “We will continue to serve our clients on this growing continentally connected professional legal services platform with a wider global reach.”

  • 2019: Opposition parties in Lagos form alliance to challenge APC

    Fourteen opposition parties in Lagos State have formed an alliance to challenge the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s elections,according to the Chairman of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the state, Mr. Kola Ajayi. Ajayi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the “Star Alliance “was recently formed with the objective of providing what he called a credible alternative to the APC.

    Parties in the coalition include AD, Action Alliance, New Nigeria People’s Party, People’s Progressive Party, People’s Redemption Party, Democratic Alternative , Accord, People’s Party of Nigeria, People ‘s Alliance for National Development and Liberty, People’s Democratic Movement and Legacy Party of Nigeria.

    He claimed that APC had yet to meet the aspirations of Lagos residents, hence, the need for a credible alternative.

    “We formed this coalition to provide a credible platform on which to deliver good governance to the real people at the grassroots. We think Lagos residents deserve better and we should come together and give them the kind of government they want,” he said. He urged the residents to embrace the coalition which, he said, was formed for the masses.

     

  • Accord: no alliance with PDP

    Accord Party (AP) yesterday denied it has formed an alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019.

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja by its Chairman, Mohammad Nalado, the party said there was never a meeting to form an alliance.

    He warned rumour mongers to be careful of baseless insinuations, adding that the National Working Committee (NWC) is not contemplating any alliance or merger.

    Nalado, who chairs the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), urged the National Assembly to make laws to uphold party supremacy.

  • Unholy alliance

    Unholy alliance

    Osinbajo and Fashola were right, and Dogara wrong, on constituency projects

    The philosophy of separation of powers has been a seductive part of the presidential system since French thinker Montesquieu advanced it about two centuries ago. But Nigeria has, in its sometimes obsessive penchant to tweak the sacred, crossed the lines between legislative, judicial and executive functions. The executive exercises impunity when it executes orders without seeking the blessing of a court judge to clarify the law.

    The judiciary, under the veneer of the National Judicial Council (NJC), sometimes appropriates the law as though it is made for the elite of the judiciary and not for society. The legislature, especially at the centre, has fallen under the charge of blackmail, allegedly using its “good offices” to extort money out of its colleagues across the presidential aisle.

    One of such issues took centre stage recently when Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) jousted with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara. It pertained to the much-ballyhooed question of constituency projects.

    Osinbajo and Fashola staked out the points for institutional integrity, reiterating the familiar truth that the work of the National Assembly is to make laws. They say that it is wrong for the lawmakers to execute projects. That is the province of the executive branch.

    Paradoxically, the debate took place at a one-day Summit On Political Representation and Constitutional and Zonal Intervention Services organised by the House of Representatives and Conference of Speakers in collaboration with the National Institute for Legislative Studies.

    The vice president was represented by his Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Babafemi Ojudu. Osinbajo noted that the job of the law maker has been misconstrued over the years, urging the legislators to define their primary responsibility to the constitution, “so that constituents will not conceive lawmakers’ primary role as building roads, providing water, and providing electricity. Most of those roles belong to the executive but it is often misconstrued.”

    Noting the perversion and parsing in the viewpoints of the lawmakers’ defence, Fashola said those who advance the role of lawmakers to include executing projects rely on what he termed “conventions.” This is a sapient way of referring to lawmakers’ Jesuitical manipulation of the concept of law makers as representatives of the people.

    In defence of the lawmakers, the speaker said constituency projects were in line with the constitution, and that the resort to it arose out of the yearning across constituencies in the country for equitable distribution of what many call “dividends of democracy.” He cited what he saw as relevant sections of the constitution, including sections 14 (3), 15 (4), 16(1) and (2), and section 13 (1) of the 1999 constitution.

    He said that, “at least in the last three budget cycles, Mr. President has always included projects in the appropriation Bills sent to the house, including that of 2016.” He however confirmed Fashola’s reference to convention when he noted that the executive initiates the projects under section 81 of the constitution with the “tacit understanding” of the legislature. But he did not also help his case when he noted that “the Appropriation Act is a law of the federation that contains the constituency projects, which are domiciled in the respective MDAs. These MDAs process for tender and bidding by contractors like any other project and are awarded to qualified contractors in fulfillment of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.”

    It is this mischief of logic that compelled the vice president to say that “the primary role of the legislator is to make laws, but for most constituents, this to them does not matter. No matter the fine points of law raised, no matter the bills and motions you raise in all your deliberations, the constituents believe that you provide them with boreholes, until you provide them with generators or transformers and until you build roads, you have not achieved much. That is nothing.”

    The vice president points to the cynicism in our political attitude that sees accountability in not what is legislated but what is done. That accounts for craving by lawmakers to point at roads or school building or bore holes as what they did in order to justify reelection or to identify as legacy when they are seeking other offices.

    Such excuses cannot justify distorting the constitution. The lawmakers help in constituency projects not as an executor but as an evangelist. His or her job is to “persuade” the executive branch to execute projects in their constituency. The lawmakers can do that by way of lobbying or making robust arguments. That is where their work ends.

    What we see here is the mania for lawmakers to become contractors. This is not only wrong, it is corrupt. They become bargainers and lose their integrity as lawmakers. In fact, some of the lawmakers have been accused of using their positions to browbeat the executive to yield to these projects or have their executive projects stymied or frustrated.

    That accounts for the conventions Fashola highlighted. The presidency has bowed serially to this perversion in this republic. That does not make it right or lawful. It is a monetisation of a sacred law by anointing an unholy alliance.

     

  • Governors’ unholy alliance on minimum wage

    SIR: Never in the history of Nigeria has hope been hopelessly dashed, faith rudely compromised, promises wilfully and consciously  broken, resources squandered, priorities brazenly misplaced and confidence betrayed as witnessed today in Nigeria.

    I salute the resilience and courage of the Nigerian workers who have suffered for too long. Nigerian workers are the most abused and undervalued in the world because their salary is grossly inadequate and not being paid as and when due. With ¦ 18,000 monthly, they still run a mini-government for themselves by providing for their family what the government ought to provide for them such as light, water, security, transport, apart from their normal feeding and school fees, medicals etc.

    With all these responsibility shifted to them by the government, it is pure wickedness akin to terrorism for any governor to say that ¦ 18,000 is too much for the lowest worker in Nigeria. When a leader is suffering from mental fatigue, his only option to economic challenges is reducing the salaries of poor innocent civil servants whose take home pay cannot take them home. In civilised climes, leaders are reviewing wages upward, creating employment to discourage the youth from terrorism, kidnapping and other type of social vices which are all siblings of unemployment. A society like Nigeria that ought to create employment due to the high spate of insecurity that has skyrocketed to unprecedented proportion in the country is now contemplating policies that will compound the security situation. You don’t solve a small problem by creating a bigger one.

    It must be made abundantly clear that when the economy was in boom, instead of them to create an enabling environment where economic activities would thrive, governors were busy fashioning out economic policies that promote private selfish acquisition. They were busy measuring their success with the number of latest cars, houses in choice areas, concubines etc against one another. It was enjoyment galore for them.

    Also, it is important to recall that when the oil boom was at its peak, Nigeria was selling its crude above its benchmark price. That necessitated the establishment of the Excess Crude Account by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration to act as a stabilization fund, closing budget deficits caused by oil price volatility. The fund was designed to enable savings for the rainy day. The governors under the umbrella of “Nigerian Governors Forum” led by the now Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki in 2008 instituted a lawsuit at the Supreme Court against the Yar’Adua government calling for the sharing of $15 billion from the ECA. From that moment it was sharing galore. Such funds would have been very useful now that the price of crude is on a free fall.

    I will like to emphasise that most of these governors rose to the apex of power by dint of sheer luck and got overwhelmed by the behemoth of the office. Leadership is not a snap. It is a position that is gruelling and tedious. Unfortunately, we have leaders who do not like the grind but preferred the grandeur of the office.

    My advice for these governors is to sacrifice by cutting down all wastefulness under any guise such as security vote, irrelevant ceremonies, numerous special aides and assistants, humongous allowances, and other inflated contracts which have constituted the drain-pipe of resources.

    Any attempt to form a cartel against the minimum wage will be resisted by Nigerian workers. This might just be the last straw that will break the camel’s back.

     

    • Abiodun Aladetan

    Lagos

  • Artists in alliance for Today in history

    Seven years ago, the Iponri Artists stunned the Lagos art scene with quality works of art when they made their debut exhibition New Dawn, at the National Museum, Onikan Lagos.  In 2009, they had a follow-up, Isokan (Togetherness) at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, which confirmed the arrival of this new generation of gifted young artists. In tandem with the independence anniversary of Nigeria, the group is in alliance with other young talented artists and held an independence show at Abuja, titled Today in History, between last Thursday and today at The Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Abuja.

    The artists are Tayo Olayode, Bede Umeh, Kehinde Oso and  Sanusi Abdullahi who are in alliance with non-members such as Bimbo Adenugba, Gerald Chukwuma, Uchay Joel Chima and Bolaji Ogunwo.

    For the group, showing with non-members is not new because in 2011, the group, had, in Abuja exhibited with other artists, and a year after continued with an international collaboration when the artists showed in Accra, Ghana, again with non-members.

    According to Olayode during a preview session in Lagos, the partnership will continue in the next few years, and may take the artists to U.S or Europe next year for exhibitions. He disclosed that the choice of Thought Pyramid Centre as a space has to do “with our diverse and big canvas.”

    Apart from the pedigree of Iponri Artists’ name, none of the exhibiting artists is a stranger to the Nigerian art scene as each has made a mark on the Nigerian art space. From Olayode, to Chukwuma, a mixed media relief sculptor artist, Umeh, a painter with depth of skills on the canvas; Abdulahi, a metal sculptor, Adenugba, a painter with strong passion for realism and Chima, a mixed media artist, the group outing at Thought Pyramid, Abuja may be a turning point.

    Some of the works include A Time To Ponder, Umeh’s painting that takes the texture of an embossed portrait. Other works of the artist for the show include Adaobi, a multiplication effect; and Delegation, a stylised figural of people in gathering.

    Since their return from residency at Vermont in the U.S., Olayode and Chima have been sharing their wealth of experiences.  For Olayode his signature is distinct in his painting of figures, where he uses crowd effect. Night Market and Royal Procession are two of his works at the group exhibition and it confirms that the artist is stepping up his game.

    One year after, Chima had his first post-residency show titled Connection, a two-artist’s exhibition. But, his outing with Iponri Artists is a fresh window to celebrate his new technique. Chima, again brings his narrative about burns and darkness as explained in portraiture of a couple rendered in black rubber pieces.

    Chima is known for his eclectic use of alluring materials and unique artistic process, often questioning environmental and social issues around the world. Chima’s works have continued to evolve, remaining relevant to developments in contemporary art. Weaving a tapestry of memory, imagination, societal happenings and emotion, he combines various fond objects, including strings, sand, wax, charcoal, old sacks, with paint and other mediums in an aesthetic that informs his oeuvre. He creates thought-provoking presentations, which address the realities around us whilst employing a mixture of conventional and unconventional approaches in his unceasing explorations.

    Ogunwo explained his work: “My art is informed by the people and events that permeate my immediate milieu. In the course of my artistic career   spanning over a decade, I have resolved not to be led by just the trending thematic and stylistic culture in the art practice  but to see and represent ideas the way I feel and not just the way they are, hence my art is cathartic; a purgation of my emotions on frenzied canvases. I ventilate loudly through my pallette addresing socio-political issues ranging from corruption and moral deficit knowing full well that Nigeria will soon assume her position as the giant of Africa indeed.”

    The only sculptor in the group, Abdullahi flaunts the beauty of natural metal with works such as Our Domain, a depiction of insects on cobweb;  drummer of native Yoruba dance steps, in Bata; and another insect life, Tussle, where butterflies perch on a hibiscus flower. Perhaps adding painterly touch to Tussle with red hibiscus and yellow butterfly, Abdullahi offers quite a choice in collection tastes.

    As for the non-members such as Adenugba he brings his new canvas of realism into the gathering with works such as Ecstassy, Green For Sale anf Fragment. In the last few years, he has populated his realism canvas with signs and motifs, some of which are pronounced, for example in Ecstacy, a piece about ladies in sensuous dancing.

  • Artists in alliance for Today in history

    Seven years ago, the Iponri Artists stunned the Lagos art scene with quality works of art when they made their debut exhibition New Dawn, at the National Museum, Onikan Lagos.  In 2009, they had a follow-up, Isokan (Togetherness) at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, which confirmed the arrival of this new generation of gifted young artists. In tandem with the independence anniversary of Nigeria, the group is in alliance with other young talented artists to host an independence show at Abuja, titled Today in History, showing from October 22 to 28, at The Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Abuja.

    The artists are Tayo Olayode, Bede Umeh, Kehinde Oso and  Sanusi Abdullahi who are in alliance with non-members such as Bimbo Adenugba, Gerald Chukwuma, Uchay Joel Chima and Bolaji Ogunwo.

    For the group, showing with non-members is not new because in 2011, the group, had, in Abuja exhibited with other artists, and a year after continued with an international collaboration when the artists showed in Accra, Ghana, again with non-members.

    According to Olayode during a preview session in Lagos, the partnership will continue in the next few years, and may take the artists to U.S or Europe next year for exhibitions. He disclosed that the choice of Thought Pyramid Centre as a space has to do “with our diverse and big canvas.”

    Apart from the pedigree of Iponri Artists’ name, none of the exhibiting artists is a stranger to the Nigerian art scene as each has made a mark on the Nigerian art space. From Olayode, to Chukwuma, a mixed media relief sculptor artist, Umeh, a painter with depth of skills on the canvas; Abdulahi, a metal sculptor, Adenugba, a painter with strong passion for realism and Chima, a mixed media artist, the group outing at Thought Pyramid, Abuja may be a turning point.

    Some of the works include A Time To Ponder, Umeh’s painting that takes the texture of an embossed portrait. Other works of the artist for the show include Adaobi, a multiplication effect; and Delegation, a stylised figural of people in gathering.

    Since their return from residency at Vermont in the U.S., Olayode and Chima have been sharing their wealth of experiences.  For Olayode his signature is distinct in his painting of figures, where he uses crowd effect. Night Market and Royal Procession are two of his works at the group exhibition and it confirms that the artist is stepping up his game.

    One year after, Chima had his first post-residency show titled Connection, a two-artist’s exhibition. But, his outing with Iponri Artists is a fresh window to celebrate his new technique. Chima, again brings his narrative about burns and darkness as explained in portraiture of a couple rendered in black rubber pieces.

    Chima is known for his eclectic use of alluring materials and unique artistic process, often questioning environmental and social issues around the world. Chima’s works have continued to evolve, remaining relevant to developments in contemporary art. Weaving a tapestry of memory, imagination, societal happenings and emotion, he combines various fond objects, including strings, sand, wax, charcoal, old sacks, with paint and other mediums in an aesthetic that informs his oeuvre. He creates thought-provoking presentations, which address the realities around us whilst employing a mixture of conventional and unconventional approaches in his unceasing explorations.

    Ogunwo explained his work: “My art is informed by the people and events that permeate my immediate milieu. In the course of my artistic career   spanning over a decade, I have resolved not to be led by just the trending thematic and stylistic culture in the art practice  but to see and represent ideas the way I feel and not just the way they are, hence my art is cathartic; a purgation of my emotions on frenzied canvases. I ventilate loudly through my pallette addresing socio-political issues ranging from corruption and moral deficit knowing full well that Nigeria will soon assume her position as the giant of Africa indeed.”

    The only sculptor in the group, Abdullahi flaunts the beauty of natural metal with works such as Our Domain, a depiction of insects on cobweb;  drummer of native Yoruba dance steps, in Bata; and another insect life, Tussle, where butterflies perch on a hibiscus flower. Perhaps adding painterly touch to Tussle with red hibiscus and yellow butterfly, Abdullahi offers quite a choice in collection tastes.

    As for the non-members such as Adenugba he brings his new canvas of realism into the gathering with works such as Ecstassy, Green For Sale anf Fragment. In the last few years, he has populated his realism canvas with signs and motifs, some of which are pronounced, for example in Ecstacy, a piece about ladies in sensuous dancing.

  • Faseru is VP African Cashew Alliance

    National President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Tola Faseru, has been elected Vice –President, African  Cashew Alliance (ACA).

    He is the first Nigerian to occupy the position on the Executive Committee (EC) of ACA, the association’s governing body.

    The EC is elected every two years by a General Assembly of registered and paid-up ACA members, usually during the ACA Annual Conference.

    He was elected during the Ninth ACA World Cashew Festival & Expo which held between September 21 and 24 at Maputo, Mozambique. Mozambique is the second largest producer of cashew nuts in East Africa.

    The Chairman, Colossus Investments Limited, said  his election would open doors for  more Nigerians to make in-roads into the continental cashew market.

    According to him, international cashew kernel demand is active, there is need to sustain the campaign for improved farming and processing techniques to ensure the country presents higher cashew grades.

    He said Nigeria can produce about 500,000 tonnes/year of raw cashew, adding that  this can only be  achieved  if  cashew cultivation is increased from the national output of about 200,000. Further sector development has however, he noted, has continued been hampered by low production levels, low cashew quality and the lack of quality standards.

    This has weakened international consumer confidence which has in turn left the nation’s cashew value chain at a disadvantage. Besides, he deplored the limited access to financing and high credit interests, hindering investments in local cashew processing.

    The industry, he added, may not reach its full potential to deliver sustainable and inclusive growth without strong, coordinated action around export strategies that take full account of the different policy frameworks governing cashew export.

  • China rejects shipping alliance

    China has rejected a shipping alliance initiative aimed at saving the industry money, despite approval from the US and the EU.

    The “P3 Network” was intended to operate in a similar way to code-sharing deals between airlines.

    The idea was to allow the world’s top three container-shipping operators by volume to cut costs by sharing ships and port facilities.

    A successful alliance would have seen about 250 ships participating in P3.

    The idea, announced last year, came from a proposed collaboration among three shipping groups: Maersk from Denmark, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) from Switzerland and CMA CGM from France.

    The network was supposed to begin operating in the second quarter of this year, subject to approvals from various authorities including China, US and the EU.

    The US Federal Maritime Commission approved the alliance in March, while EU competition authorities said earlier this month they would not raise any anti-trust issues in connection with the deal.

    However, China’s Ministry of Commerce has now rejected the tie-up.

    Maersk said in a statement: “The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of the People’s Republic of China announced that they have not approved the P3 Network. The MOFCOM’s decision follows a review under China’s merger control rules.”

    China’s state-owned news agency Xinhua said the commerce ministry rejected the alliance “due to monopoly concerns”.

    According to various publications, the P3 Network would have positioned the three partners to control up to 40 per cent of all cargo capacity along three trade routes: Asia to Europe, trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic.

    The shippers had agreed to deploy about 250 ships between the three of them and share capacity of 2.6 million containers along the busiest sea routes.

  • ACN mocks Ladoja, Akala as 10-man alliance team is raised

    ACN mocks Ladoja, Akala as 10-man alliance team is raised

    •PDP chieftain disowns pact 

     

    Former Oyo State Governors Rashidi Ladoja and Adebayo Alao-Akala yesterday inaugurated a 10-man committee to work out alliance modalities between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Accord in preparation for the 2015 election.

    The former governors were, until recently, enemies, following Ladoja’s illegal impeachment and his succession by his then deputy, Alao-Akala.

    Alao-Akala was defeated in the 2011 election by Governor Abiola Ajimobi of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

    The former governors met yesterday at Ladoja’s Bodija home in Ibadan, the state capital, and inaugurated a 10-man committee, comprising five members each from the PDP and Accord.

    The panel’s task is to work out strategies to dislodge the ACN in 2015.

    Speaking with reporters after the inauguration, Alao-Akala said he had no intention of dumping the PDP for the Accord or any other party.

    He said he was working in the interest of PDP and the masses.

    Also at the inauguration were former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Dr. Dele Adigun; former House of Assembly Speaker Adeolu Adeleke; Alhaji Bayo Lawal; Mr. Dotun Oyelade and a businessman, Mr. Femi Babalola, among others.

    A PDP chieftain, Alhaji Adebisi Olopoenia, said the party had nothing to do with the planned alliance. He said Alao-Akala acted on his own.

    Olopoenia said: “Alao-Akala’s recent meeting with Ladoja and the constitution of a committee is not PDP’s idea. The party has no hand in the romance of the duo. It is for his political gain and against PDP’s interest.

    “Alao-Akala cannot be meeting with Ladoja on behalf of PDP without the consent of the party’s state executive and leaders. The members of the committee are Alao-Akala’s people and not PDP’s representative.

    “I call on the PDP at the national headquarters to call Alao-Akala to order, because his action, if unchecked, is capable of derailing the party’s peace moves.”

    Olopoenia said Ladoja was only using Alao-Akala to cause disaffection in the PDP.

    Alao-Akala’s media aide Mr. Abraham Ojo said: “Akala is a force in the PDP, having contributed and still contributing to the party’s success. Every step he is taking is in the PDP’s interest.

    “He has the party’s interest at heart and has repeatedly said he has no plan to dump the PDP. He is not making any move as alleged to destabilise the party, rather he is making moves to better the lot of the PDP in the coming election.”

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) described the planned alliance as an exercise in futility.

    It said an alliance between the former governors cannot defeat Ajimobi in the election.

    ACN said the “gang-up” confirms that Ajimobi is “the candidate to beat” in the election.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Dauda Kolawole, ACN said: “We are very happy about this gang-up. Wonders indeed can never end. That these two strange bedfellows, who had, a while ago, fought a titanic battle to destroy each other, one releasing details of the corruption of the other while in government and the other telling the world that his successor was a crass illiterate, could come together to fight Ajimobi shows that our governor is now a mighty Iroko tree, which the two gladiators needed to come together to fell. But, combined, the two cannot measure up.

    “We are sorry for them. Our politics is no longer analog but digital. Oyo people now x-ray issues and take positions. The level of governance in our state now is such that the two can no longer fit in. We have taken governance beyond brigandage, Amala politics and bloodletting.

    “We talk development as a yardstick for ratings now. Our people will ask them how many markets, roads and bridges they built when they were in office and how many are still standing?

    “The two former governors cannot insult the intelligence of the people. They should tell the people what they achieved in government beyond the cases they are both answering to in court, which were instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    “They have both been governors before. They should show us what they did that was pro-people. Ajimobi and Oyo ACN do not have a 10-man committee, but God and the people of the state, who are more potent.

    “We counsel Akala and Ladoja to dissipate their misdirected energy on how to wriggle out of the EFCC’s charges against them, so that they would not be sent to jail, rather than fighting a man God has destined to be in power.

    “Ladoja is not only desperate but confused. A few months ago, he condemned the PDP as a useless party. He praised Ajimobi to high heavens as a performer, but today, after we sacked his younger brother and his nominees from our executive council, he is singing a different tune. Here is a man who spends one month in Nigeria and three months in the United Kingdom (UK) for medical check-up.”