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Tag: Amosun

  • 2019: Amosun, APM chairman present letter of adoption to Buhari

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun and the National Chairman of Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Alhaji Yusuf Dantalle, on Monday presented a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari adopting him as the presidential candidate of the party for the 2019 presidential election.

    Amosun, who is the senatorial candidate on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been having running battles with the party’s national Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole over who succeeds him in 2019.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with Buhari, Amosun, flanked by the APM national Chairman said: “You will recall that just last week we made public that APM has adopted President Buhari as their presidential candidate.

    “I had promised to bring the letter they had given me to present to him and that is what we came to do today.

    “And you know Mr. President is a very gracious human being, he is a man with a good heart.

    “He said if a party has adopted him, it is only fair he acknowledges the party and the chairman. That is why we are here.

    “I have said that anybody that is for President Muhammadu Buhari is for me, we will embrace such party, such persons, such organization wholeheartedly and that is what I am doing and that is what we are doing in Ogun State.

    “Clearly Mr. President will have a massive vote in Ogun State in the coming election.”

    But he declined to comment on his status in the APC and threats by the national chairman of the party to expel him for anti-party activity.

    “I don’t want to comment on that. We came for this, let’s restrict ourselves to this. I want my president to win, what else do you want? We must win, that is it.”

    Dantalle said the adoption was just a formal thing.

    He said: “Personally I believe in him and reason being that I love my country and I don’t have any other country apart from Nigeria.

    “And Buhari is the only man with the sincerity of intent to take Nigeria to the next level.

    “This is not the Nigeria I was born into but I see that Nigeria coming back only though Buhari.”

     

  • Amosun: I fear only God, not even Buhari

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has said he only fears God and not human beings, including President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The governor said God, whose counsel or pronouncement that cannot be altered by man, is the one he fears, and nobody else.

    Amosun spoke at this year’s edition of the state’s Christmas Carol and Service of Nine Lessons at Kuto, Abeokuta, the state capital.

    The governor was apparently alluding to a report which quoted him to have said: “I only fear God and Buhari.”

    He was reported to have made the comments while addressing leaders and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at a stakeholders’ meeting last Friday at the party’s secretariat in Abeokuta.

    But clarifying the statement, Amosun said he feared only God and not President Buhari.

    He added: “You know this is our time as politician, a time when politicians will call black, blue. Yesterday, I held a meeting with our people and the way I started was that I was brought up to fear God but only for me to see in the paper this morning that ‘Amosun says he fears God and Buhari’.

    “No, it is only God I fear, the One Who is Alive, the Only One Who will say kunfayakun (Be and it will be!). No one can change (it). It is the only God that I fear.

    “Of course, I respect President Buhari, I love him and he loves me too. But I know him he fears God because he is from God. He doesn’t beg for respect; he commands and earns it. So it is only God that I fear.”

  • I fear only God not even Buhari – Amosun

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun has clarified that he only fears God and not human beings, including President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Amosun said God whose counsel or pronouncement cannot be altered by man, is the one he fears and nobody else.

    The Governor spoke during the 2018 edition of the state’s Christmas Carol and Service of Nine Lessons at Kuto, Abeokuta, the state capital,  in an apparent allusion to the report by the Saturday edition of The Nation which quoted him to have said “I only fear God and Buhari.”

    Amosun was reported to have made the comments while addressing  leaders and members of All Progressives Congress (APC)  during a stakeholders meeting  last Friday at the party Secretariat in Abeokuta .

    But clarifying his earlier statement, he said he fears only God and not Buhari.

    “You know this is our time as politician, a time when politicians will call black, blue. Yesterday I held a  meeting with our people, and the way I started was that, I was brought up to fear God but only for me to see in the paper this morning that ‘Amosun says he fears  God and Buhari’.

    “No, it is only God I fear, the one that is alive, the only one that will say ‘kufayakun’ and no one can change(it), that is the only God that I fear.

    “Of course, I respect President Buhari, I love him and he loves me too but I know him he fears God because he is from God. He doesn’t beg for respect he commands and earns  it. So it is only God that I fear.”

    In his yuletide sermon,  the Secretary-General, Anglican communion worldwide, Anglican communion office and consultative council, London,  Archbishop  Josiah Idowu-Fearon attributed the nation’s problem to scanty knowledge of both the Holy bible and the Quran.

    Idowu – Fearon said politicians are negatively using religion to divide the country but enjoined citizens to refuse any of such moves.

    He said: “Our major problem in this country today is that, so many people has scanty knowledge and understanding of the holy Quran and the holy Bible and they tend to propagate that little understanding of the word of God and anyone who does not agree with them, will be seen as an enemy.

    “For the Christians, the real problem is sin because it was sin that caused the reincarnation and that is why Jesus came as sacrifice and as ransom for men.

    “Jesus is a word that came in human flesh and as a result, he is a messenger and his mission is to save the people from their sins.

    “Meanwhile God expect us all to humble ourselves but our politicians are negatively using religion to divide us in this country and the time has come for all us to say no to them.”

  • Anti-party activities: APC weighs sanctions against Amosun, Okorocha, others

    How would the All Progressives Congress (APC) sanction two of its state governors for allegedly working against the interest of the party in next year’s elections?

    That is the dilemma currently facing the ruling party as it weighs the decisions of Governors Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State and Rochas Okorocha of Imo State to work against the aspirations of the party’s candidates in their states in the 2019 elections.

    Both governors, after failing to procure the APC governorship and other tickets for   their preferred candidates, are believed to be sponsoring them on the platforms of rival parties although they themselves remain senatorial candidates of the APC in their respective states.

    They have even threatened to ensure that the APC candidates.other than those endorsed by them,are defeated in the elections.

    While Adekunle Akinlade, Amosun’s choice candidate, is now the flag-bearer of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in Ogun State, Okorocha’s son-in-law and preferred successor, Uche Nwosu, is the candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) in Imo.

    The Nation also learnt that Governor Yari of Zamfara State may similarly be sanctioned once the national leadership of the party decides on how best to deal with recalcitrant chieftains. Highly placed party sources said both the NWC and other organs of the party have agreed that it is in the best interest of the APC to sanction the governors before the next general elections.

    “We’re deeply troubled by the actions of these governors and other chieftains of the party toeing same lines as them,” a senior party official told The Nation, confirming concerns expressed in recent weeks by top party officials.

    Asked about the APC leadership’s disposition towards Amosun and Okorocha recently, the spokesperson of the party, Lanre Issa-Onilu, had said the party is displeased with all forms of anti-party activities.

    Answering further questions about whether the party will take punitive actions against the duo, Issa-Onilu said “you will hear from us soon.”

    A top official of the ruling party confirmed that several meetings have been held to discuss what he described as the “obvious anti-party activities” of Governor Amosun and Okorocha in their states.

    “Contrary to opinions currently held in some quarters, it is not true that the party is finding it difficult to move against the two governors and others like them,” the source said.

    “To tell you the truth, we have met several times to discuss their cases. And as I speak to you, all major organs of the party are in agreement that something urgent must be done by the party to show the world that we will not tolerate such dissidence.

    “Specifically, it has been agreed that it is important that we address the cases of the governors of Ogun and Imo before the next general elections start. This will help boost the confidence of loyal party members in the leadership of the party and send across the right messages that we will not condone indiscipline from anybody, no matter how highly placed.

    “That nobody is saying anything about how we intend to discipline them is because nobody has been authorized to comment on their issues for now.

    “What is left is to decide on exactly what to do. Once that is done, APC will show how much it cherishes party discipline and loyalty. Those going about to say they are larger than life will soon be brought right back to life,” he added.

    Further checks by The Nation revealed that considerations such as the effects of the various punitive measures proposed against the governors as well as ongoing efforts by some party elders to mediate in the crises, are part of reasons why Amosun, Okorocha and other APC chieftains currently engaging in alleged anti-party activities, are yet to be sanctioned.

    “Yes, it is true that some people are still talking to the parties involved in the crises. Even some of these governors are still asking for negotiations as we speak. Don’t forget one or two of them currently hold our senatorial tickets. So, somehow, we want to see what will come out of the ongoing efforts to talk some sense into those misbehaving.

    “Besides that, we are going into general elections. Mr. President is seeking re-election in what many people are describing as a tough electoral challenge. We need all the supports and votes we can get. Our national chairman is a seasoned politician who believes that we must not close the door on negotiation until it is obvious that nothing will come out of it,” another source added.

    On Friday Amosun, in a veiled reference to his running battle with the national leadership of the APC, said he only fears God and President Muhammadu Buhari and no one else.

    The governor who spoke after receiving a letter from the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) endorsing President Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential candidate for the February 2019 Presidential polls said: “”We don’t fear them. All of them put together, we don’t fear anybody. We fear God and we fear President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “We have decided to let them be for the sake of President Buhari. If not for the President, we know what to do.”

    He vowed that the Derin Adebiyi-led state executive council of the APC that was dissolved last week by the national leadership of the party would serve out its tenure.

     

  • Amosun on dissolution of Ogun APC exco: We fear only God, Buhari, no one else

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun yeterday received a letter from the Allied People’s Movement (APM) endorsing President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as its presidential candidate for the February 2019 presidential polls.

    Amosun who took delivery of the endorsement letter from the governorship candidate of APM, Hon. Abdulkabir Adekunle Akinlade, at the APC Secretariat on Abiola Way, Abeokuta, the state capital, for onward transfer to Buhari, declared that the elected executive of the APC led by Chief Derin Adebiyi would serve its four-year term fully.

    Akinlade was accompanied to the APC secretariat by the Director-General of APM Campaign Committee.

    The governor added that he and his loyalists “only fear God and Buhari,” warning those he said were seeking a state to destroy the duo should count Ogun out of it, adding: “We are ready for them.”

    The National Working Committee (NWC) led by Adams Oshiomhole had last Wednesday dissolved the APC executives in Ogun and Imo states, but Adebiyi has since dismissed the dissolution as an exercise in “futility.”

    Amosun assured that the state belongs to President Buhari and that the people would vote massively for him come February 2019.

    He also hinted that he would soon flag off his senatorial campaign for the Ogun Central senatorial seat.

    Amosun said: “You know me by now. For me, I fear God and I respect people. So, it won’t be because we are afraid or we don’t want to talk.

    “Where we are now, what we should concentrate in doing is to let them know that here in Ogun State, this is the home of President Buhari and we must vote massively for him.

    “This is the home of APC. We must let them know that come February 16, 2019, by the benevolence of the Almighty Lord…

    “We are human. We are no God, and that is why we are telling them that in this coming election, in this Ogun State, it is whoever all of you (people) decide to back that will win the election.

    “So, the best way to answer them is through our action. And what is the action? We will use our votes to let them know who owns this Ogun State.

    “So, if they are looking for states to destroy them, they should not think of Ogun State. We are ready for them.

    “We don’t fear them. All of them put together, we don’t fear anybody. We fear God and we fear President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “We have decided to let them be for the sake of President Buhari. If not for the President, we know what to do.

    “Just ignore them. Don’t engage them for anything. Let us be focussed and redouble our efforts so that in the coming election, we are going to answer them with our votes.

    “I want to assure you that this executive that God has used you to put together, the executive will be there for the next four years. They will serve their term.”

    Meanwhile, the national body of APC has appointed a three-man caretaker committee for the party in Ogun State. They include Yemi Sanusi (Chairman), Ayo Olubori (Secretary) and Tunde Oladunjoye (Publicity Secretary).

  • ‘I once prostrated for Amosun, begged him over Yewa agenda’

    Ogun State governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) Prince Dapo Abiodun has said he was never aversed to the struggle of Ogun West to produce the governor for the State.

    Abiodun revealed that he was committed to the Ogun West cause to the extent that he did not only beg Amosun, but also prostrated for him to allow Senator Solomon Adeola be the governorship candidate of the party due to his wide acceptance and popularity.

    Senator Adeola, from Pahayi, Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government but representing Lagos West at the National Assembly, had taken Ogun State by whirlwind with his gubernatorial ambition but beat a retreat early this year when it was obvious that the support of the governor was not forthcoming.

    Amosun had repeatedly vowed at the time that he would not hand over to ‘tekobo’ or stranger making a veiled allusion to the effect that
    Adeola popularly called Yayi is a non-indigene of the state and therefore not qualified to rule the state.

    However, while addressing Yewa Traditional Council of Obas led by the Paramount ruler of Yewa land, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle at Ilaro on Wednesday evening, Abiodun considered his emergence as the ruling party governorship candidate as the will of God.

    He said: “Let nobody thinks that we are not sensitive to the long time yearnings of Ogun West to also produce governor for the state. As a very strong believer in this cause, I personally took your son, Sen. Adeola to Gov. Amosun, begged and prostrated for him to support his governorship ambition but he refused. That I am the governorship candidate of APC today in our dear State remains a testimony of God’s awesomeness and that He is the only one who has the power to enthrone.”

    He pledged not to be an accidental governor who would do things on happenstances.

    The APC governorship candidate disclosed that as a successful private sector player he already has the blueprint for the development of the state vowing to accord the traditional institutions their due respect and honour while pursuing development of every part of the state.

    The billionaire oil merchant explained that his government would embark on massive rural roads construction, qualitative, affordable education and healthcare, jobs and wealth creation for the youth through conscious investment in agriculture, complete some of the ongoing projects in the state among others asking the royal fathers to give him their royal blessings for the gargantuan tasks ahead.

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    Responding, Olu of Ilaro and Paramount ruler of Yewa land, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle described Prince Dapo Abiodun as someone who feared God and this he said could be seen from his comportment and speech.

    Oba Olugbenle added that it was God who indeed enthrones and that whatever God has ordained cannot be upturned by ten Paramount rulers. The royal father before giving his blessings on behalf of other traditional rulers from Yewa land however urged Prince Dapo Abiodun to stay true to his promise to be fair to all in distribution of projects when he got to office.

    Dignitaries on the entourage of the governorship candidate included the deputy governor designate, Engr. Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele, Engr Ayo Olubori, former Commissioner for environment, Chief Bode Mustapha, Mr Olu Agemo, Prince Segun Adsegun, former deputy governor and Director-General, Dapo Abiodun Campaign Organisation, Hon Isiaq Akinlade, ChiefTolu Odebiyi, Sen. Gbenga Obadara, Chief Femi Majekodunmi, Hon Biyi Otegbeye, Chief Mufutau Ajibola, former SUBEB Chairman among others.

  • Shettima’s committee meets Amosun as hearings end

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Peace and Reconciliation Committee for the Southwest met with Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun yesterday in his Ikeja, the Lagos State capital, private house.

    It concluded scheduled interactive hearings with aggrieved party members from Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo states.

    The meeting with Amosun, which was scheduled for Abeokuta, was the committee’s last activity in the Southwest after three days of hearings. Chairman of the committee and Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima led members to a closed-door session with Amosun.

    The discussions focused on how to resolve the crisis that has bedevilled the APC in Ogun State.

    The committee, on Wednesday, held closed-door meetings with Ogun State APC Chairman alongside the Speaker of the House of Assembly.

    The meetings took place in Lagos as part of the committee’s interactive hearings for Ogun and Lagos states, which took place at the Government House in Marina.

    Major party stakeholders in Lagos State, including Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, the party’s governorship candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the state chairman of the party and members of the governors’ advisory council, were present at the opening of the meeting.

    By this weekend in Abuja, the committee’s representatives, according to its Secretary, Malam Isa Gusau, are expected to meet with the Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, on issues in Oyo State.

    It also met some specific leaders of the party in the Southwest as part of efforts to gather facts from all sides, conclude consultations before making recommendations to the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).

    This was meant to increase the party’s chances in governorship, national and state assembly elections in the Southwest.

  • Amosun will kick-start APC campaign in Ogun, says Abiodun

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has expressed the confidence that Governor Ibikunle Amosun will kick-start the party’s campaign soon.

    He said the governor would also use the event to raise his hand as the party’s flag bearer for the March election.

    Abiodun, who anchored his confidence on the possibility of the party leaders resolving all “issues” arising from the primary conducted in the state, acknowledged that Amosun remained the party leader in the state.

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    The oil magnate and real estate player, addressed reporters while formally unveiling his running mate, Mrs. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, at his Iperu country home in Ogun State.

    On the position of the governor, who has declared that he would neither recognise nor support the candidature of the APC in the forthcoming poll, Abiodun said Amosun would attend the kick-off of his campaign when the time comes.

    The APC chieftain noted that the state leadership of the party had about 77 days to resolve whatever crisis that has been bedevilling the party ahead of the election as one united political family.

     

  • Ogun civil servants write Amosun, lament unremitted pension funds, others

    Civil servants in Ogun State have  expressed  worry over the  “uncertain future” that await them following  the non-remittance of 106 months of Contributory Pension by Governor Ibikunle Amosun – led government.
    Acting under the aegis of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSC), the workers in a letter dated 5th December and addressed to Governor Amosun, lamented the unpaid four years leave bonus, 10 months of unpaid Trade Union Check-Off Due and gratuity payment suspended since January 2014.
    In the letter titled : “Revisiting Our Plight: Unpaid Entitlements and Other Issues” signed by its Secretary, Comrade Adebiyi Olusegun,  the workers also listed months of unpaid global deductions and outstanding promotion from 2016, 2017 and 2018 as arrears owed them by the state government.
    The workers said the situation has left them at the “crossroads where capacity to absorb shocks and uncertainties any longer has been exhausted.”
    The Council noted with dismay the alleged breach of agreement on the part of government as regards the last tranche of the Paris Club refund of N17. 3bn to the State on payment of arrears of Trade Union Check Off-Dues.
    “We must as well register our displeasure on the sort of maltreatment, meted out to the Organised Labour over the last tranche of the Paris Club refund of N17. 3bn to the State which from the outset we collaborate with open conscience to have addressed a press conference hurriedly that the State government will commit a total of over N10bn of it to offering various outstanding due to state workers, inclusive of all arrears of Trade Union Check off Dues as communicated to us by the Honourable Commissioner of Finance.
    “We therefore take the outright neglect of Trade Union’s in eventual payment of some these arrears as betrayal of trust,” the letter read.
    The Council urged the state government to address all these issue so as to avoid any form on industrial disharmony.
    They therefore called for an “Immediate action at addressing these long drawn issues would go some miles at dousing the tensed situation now at its ebbs which, as it were, might disrupt the relative industrial harmony currently being experienced in the state.”

  • Amosun: I’ll give my all to make Akinlade win in Ogun

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun yesterday said his anointed man, Abdulkabir Adekunle Akinlade of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), has his “blessings to pursue the mandate freely given to him” by the people of the state.

    He promised to give Akinlade all he has to ensure that the House of Representatives member representing Egbado South and Ipokia Federal Constituency succeeds him next year.

    The governor, who addressed hundreds of his loyalists and supporters in Abeokuta, the state capital, promised to work for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He urged his loyalists to vote only for the President and Akinlade, saying he would not conceal his position on 2019.

    According to him, when he begins campaigning, his loyalists and supporters should know that it is only for President Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Akinlade of APM.

    Amosun assured his loyalists that his consensus candidates initially listed to contest elective offices on the platform of APC but denied tickets would win in 2019 on the platform of APM to prove detractors wrong.

    The governor said his political foes plotting to destroy his political career would fail, adding that they would go into political extinction in the state.

    He recalled that he was not a political neonate when he was picked as the candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2011.

    Amosun said he won his senatorial election in 2003 and contested the governorship poll in 20O7 and won but was robbed before joining the defunct ACN.

    He said: “Akinlade has my full blessings to pursue that mandate our people gave him. I will give all that I have to see that he wins. If the people gave him the mandate, the result will show. We have all our strategies ready. My senatorial ambition is the least of the problem. I will give Akinlade all that I have; I will give our people all that I have to make sure that Akinlade wins.

    “When these people came, they told me they were leaving the APC. I said ‘no’ but I couldn’t stop them. In fact, Akinlade has my full support; I am not going to stop him. Everything I have, I will use to support him. Let them try whatever they want to try. We also have our strategies, and I am not going to hide behind one finger.

    “I remain in APC because that’s what those people want: they want us to leave APC, but they are joking. I will stay in APC to ensure that President Buhari wins in Ogun State and to let them know that they can’t subvert the will of Ogun State.

    “Everyday, I will campaign for President Buhari; we will do everything possible to ensure Buhari wins massively in Ogun State. But they should not miss it: I, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, will not support anyone they are bringing (Dapo Abiodun).

    “Why would a reasonable person lord people less than 10 per cent over the majority? It can’t happen. They know there was only one primary and they have called me to say that. We have done everything possible to right the wrong but they were ready in destroying the party.

    “God will punish me if I stop Akinlade. All of you supporting Akinlade have my support and blessing. They are talking about party supremacy; what happens to party supremacy at the local level?”

    Also, 26 members of the APC loyal to the governor yesterday announced their defection to the APM, citing impunity within the former as their major reason.

    The defectors said they contested for the House of Assembly primary on October 7 and were declared winners the following day by APC Electoral Committee but that they were shocked that their names were not listed as candidates by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).