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Tag: Ayo Fayose

  • Ekiti Doctors to Fayose: Pay our salaries, we’re suffering

    Ekiti Doctors to Fayose: Pay our salaries, we’re suffering

    Doctors are avoiding work in Ekiti State over poor working conditions occasioned by unpaid salaries and poor funding of the State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH).

    The state Chairman of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), Dr. Kunle Ajayi, who disclosed this on Wednesday urged Governor Ayo Fayose to save the health sector from collapse.

    Ajayi made the appeal at the inauguration of the union’s secretariat/office complex, MDCAN House, located within EKSUTH premises.

    The building was commissioned by Fayose who was represented by Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olurotimi Ojo, who appealed to the doctors to bear with the government.

    Doctors in the employ of Ekiti State government are owed between seven and eight months arrears of salaries with resident doctors already on an indefinite strike.

    Ajayi said many best brains in the field of medicine left what he called “juicy appointments” elsewhere and came to EKSUTH shortly after it was upgraded from State Specialist Hospital in 2008 lamenting that the health institution has suffered neglect.

    He said: “When this place was upgraded to Teaching Hospital in 2008, a lot of us on juicy appointments came. We left behind all privileges we were enjoying.

    “But this hospital (EKSUTH) has received little attention in terms of funding, capacity building. This hospital has not received serious funding since inception.

    “The more (doctors) that would have come have been prevented because of the experiences of people on ground so that the future of people who left various places won’t be jeopardised.”

    But Ojo said: “I will speak with the governor on your behalf; there is no responsible father that will see his children suffering. The governor feels for you but he has been incapacitated by financial limitations.

    “The governor appreciates our consultants, resident doctors are currently on strike but I want to plead with them to come back. Everybody knows what is going on the allocations coming from Abuja.

    “I don’t want you (doctors) to be militant, let us show our strength during this period. All institutions on subvention in the state are going through this situation.”

  • PHOTO: Ekiti students rally in support of Anti-Cultism law signed by Fayose

    PHOTO: Ekiti students rally in support of Anti-Cultism law signed by Fayose

    Students marching round the streets of Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Tuesday, in support of the new Anti-Cultism Law signed by the Gov. Ayo Fayose.
  • Ekiti 2018: Five PDP aspirants unite against Fayose’s deputy

    Ekiti 2018: Five PDP aspirants unite against Fayose’s deputy

    ….Insist Olusola’s imposition won’t stand

    Five governorship aspirants of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State have resolved to work together and resist the alleged imposition of Deputy Governor Kolapo Olusola as the “sole candidate” for the 2018 polls.

    They insist that there must be a free, fair, credible and transparent primary election from where the party’s flag bearer for the 2018 governorship race will emerge.

    One of the aspirants, Mr. Owoseni Ajayi, the immediate past Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, disclosed this in Ado-Ekiti while speaking as a guest at the commissioning of the campaign office of a fellow aspirant, Ambassador Dare Bejide.

    Ajayi, who was one of the closest and most trusted aides of Fayose before falling apart after Olusola’s adoption, said imposition of governorship candidate could open way for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to grab power from PDP in the 2018 Ekiti poll.

    “All PDP aspirants are all working together; that is the reason why all of us should work together and I want to assure you that all aspirants in PDP minus the one that was adopted.

    All other aspirants, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, Senator Biodun Olujimi, Ambassador Dare Bejide, Bisi Omoyeni and I are all working together to ensure that there is no imposition of any candidate in PDP in this state.

    “To demonstrate the love among us, that is why I am here today to witness the commissioning of my friend’s campaign office and I believe that when I am going to do my own, I will also invite all of you to be there and you will equally be there.

    “Because when one of us becomes the governor under a peaceful, free and fair atmosphere, there will be no problem for our party members and there will no crisis in our state and it will not be possible for APC to defeat us.

    “Impunity, imposition of candidates, lawlessness and recklessness by those who supposed to know the rules in our party must stop. These were responsible for the loss of our party in the 2015 general elections.

    “We don’t want our state to be taken over by APC; we don’t want impunity, imposition and lawlessness in our party again and that is why we are demanding a free and fair primary.

    “We will ensure that there is no imposition in PDP, that is why we the aspirants, except the one purportedly adopted, are one and united and that is why I am here in solidarity with Bejide.”

    Ajayi urged the PDP national leadership to intervene in Ekiti and other state chapters so that the so that the party will not lose more leaders and members to other parties.

    He explained that the PDP is yet to recover from the 2015 loss in many states of the federation where party members defected to APC to win governorship and legislative seats.

    Ajayi added: “Some of our leaders because of the power they wielded imposed their will on the people during the 2015 general elections and the party paid dearly for it.

    “Former Plateau Governor Jonah Jang fielded his son-in-law as the governorship candidate while his predecessor, Joshua Dariye, sponsored Simon Lalong, our party member to contest on APC platform to win the governorship election.

    “This is despite the fact that PDP has the majority in the Plateau State House of Assembly but we lost the governorship to APC.

    “Also in Benue, former Governor Gabriel Suswam, imposed a candidate but our party member, Samuel Ortom, crossed over to APC to win the governorship election. We incurred these losses because of imposition.”

  • Ekiti promises continual on-the-job training for teachers

    Ekiti promises continual on-the-job training for teachers

    Gov. Ayo Fayose of Ekiti promised on Friday to sustain the current on-the-job training for teachers in the state, to enhance the teaching of science subjects.

    Fayose, represented by the Deputy Governor, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, made the promise while addressing participants at the Capacity Building Training Workshop for Science Teachers at Egbeoba High School, Ikole-Ekiti.

    The theme of the training workshop was: “Pragmatic Approach To Teaching Science Subjects.”

    The governor promised to continue to put in place policies that would enhance teaching and learning in public schools in the state.

    “Every profession needs continuous training, especially on-the-job training. We will continue to sustain whatever policy that will ensure improvement of our educational sector,” the governor said.

    He urged the participants to transfer the knowledge acquired at the training to other teachers..

    The governor said that teachers must continually ensure that they acquainted themselves with new teaching techniques and technologies at all times.

    He commended them for their contributions to the feat recorded by the state in external examinations.

    “Very soon, Operation Visit All Schools will commence in order for us to identify some of the challenges the teachers are facing, so as to proffer solutions to them,” he added.

    Two of the participants, Mr Bola Ojo and Mrs Bibire Olumuyiwa, thanked government for the training and promised to impact the knowledge gained to their students.

    No fewer than 1,000 science teachers in the state have so far benefited from the training programme.

    NAN

  • Ekiti NMA clamp down on quacks, illegal medical centres

    Ekiti NMA clamp down on quacks, illegal medical centres

    Nigerian Medical Association ( NMA ), Ekiti State chapter, on Sunday, says it has signed a pact with the state government for introduction of accreditation of health facilities to fish out operators of illegal medical centres.

    The NMA Chairman in Ekiti, Dr Sunday Omoya, made this known at a news conference to round-off the 2017 Physicians’ Week and  Ordinary General Meeting of the medical body.

    He said the medical body regretted the activities of some unregistered medical practitioners in the state.

    He added that such activities had been affecting medical practice and denting the image of members, saying “this must stop in the overall interest of health security of residents of the state.”

    He commended the Gov. Ayo Fayose-led state government for implementing Consolidated Medical Salary Scale ( CONMESS ) for all categories of doctors in the state, noting however that the policy had not been beneficial, owing to the six months salary owed doctors.

    Omoya said a total of  300 people were offered free medical treatment by doctors at Ipole Iloro in Ekiti West Local Government Area during the 2017 Physicians’ Week.

    He added that NMA held medical education for rural dwellers on  dieting, hypertension, HIV/AIDS and other ailments ravaging the people at the

    grassroots.

    He urged government to pay members’ salaries and fund health institutions, particularly the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital(EKSUTH), to improve healthcare delivery in the state.

    He noted that “we have set up a committee to look into the issue of quackery. We reached an agreement with state government on accreditation and re-registration of all health facilities in Ekiti.

    “We are looking into the genuineness of health facilities to know if they go beyond the scope for which they are registered.“If a facility is registered as a maternity or clinic or hospital, it can’t go beyond that scope but in Ekiti, some maternity homes are performing surgeries and this is wrong and dangerous.

    “Defaulting facilities will be shut and the owners prosecuted accordingly.”

    He commended the state government for being among the five states that met 70 per cent  benchmark in immunisation coverage.

    On the issue of non-payment of salaries, Omoya said: “We are pleading that even if all the arrears won’t be paid, government should bring us

    as per with our colleagues in civil service.

    “As we speak now, we are owing government six months salary, while civil servants are owed five months and this is demoralising doctors in health institutions.”

    NAN

  • Septuagenarian wins best farmer in Ekiti, gets N1m

    Septuagenarian wins best farmer in Ekiti, gets N1m

    A 73-year old farmer, Alhaji Olayinka Adeyemi, has emerged the Overall Best Farmer of the year in Ekiti state, winning N1 million prize.

    Alhaji Olayinka has been in farming since 1965.

    Chief Afe Babalola, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the organiser of Afe Babalola Agricultural Exhibition code named “ABA-EX 2017” gave the prize to the winner on Sunday at the closing of the exhibition at the Afe Babalola University ( ABUAD ), Ado Ekiti.

    The agric exhibition, where Adeyemi won the prize was organised by Gov. Ayo Fayose.

    The Septuagenarian was among about 300 other farmers shortlisted for the government exhibition from among leading farmers in all the 16 local government areas of the state.

    Two farmers each from the 16 council areas got N150, 000 and N100, 000 for wining first and second positions at the local level.

    Babalola offered to start buying farm produce from farmers in the state.

    This, the legal luminary said would save farmers in the state the agony of produce wastage and loss of profit on their produce due to lack of storage facilities and ready market.

    Babalola, who is also a big-time farmer,said he decided on buying the farm produce to improve the well being of farmers and make farming attractive again like it used to be before the discovery of oil.

    He noted that most Nigerian farmers were usually compelled to sell their produce at ridiculous prices because of lack of facilities to preserve them.

    The (SAN) also identified lack of working capital, storage facilities and modern farm implements as reasons why many had abandoned farming for odd jobs in the city.

    He also said lack of access to ready market for their produce contributed to farmers abandoning the occupation, thereby making them poorer.

    “As from now, I wish to announce to all farmers in Ekiti State that they are free to bring their farm produce in bulk to us here. We are ready to by them and pay you appropriate prices.

    “We have all the facilities in ABUAD farms to accommodate as well as process whatever volume of both cash and food crops that we have with us.

    “We do not only prepare them for local consumption, we also prepare them for export.

    “I am always moved to pity when I see hard-working farmers not making commensurable profits on their farms despite toiling day and night to ensure they have good harvest.

    “I do not want this ugly situation to continue,” he said.

    Fayose, who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Kolapo Olusola thanked Babalola for his intervention in agriculture and education sectors in the state.

    He described Babalola as the best, most critical partner and a stakeholder in the running of government.

    NAN

  • LG primaries: PDP in Ekiti adopts Option A4

    LG primaries: PDP in Ekiti adopts Option A4

    Gov. Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State has said that the PDP in the state adopted Option A4 in its primaries for candidates for the Dec. 23 council poll to ensure transparency.

  • APC slams Fayose over declaration of presidential ambition

    APC slams Fayose over declaration of presidential ambition

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has criticised Governor Ayo Fayose for declaring his intention to contest the 2019 presidential election while he is owing workers in the state salaries and allowances ranging from six to eight months.

    The party described the governor’s action as the height of insensitivity to the people’s plight and an “irresponsible conduct to behave as if Ekiti State treasury is a personal estate for private comfort.”

    In a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti by the Publicity Secretary of APC, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party flayed the governor for “being blind to the sufferings of workers while pursuing self-promoting presidential ambition.”

    He said it was unconscionable for the governor to keep deceiving workers on the state’s poor finances to endure suffering while he enjoyed full life with his family and pursue mundane fancies without sparing a thought for the sufferings of the people.

    Olatunbosun said: “It is the height of wickedness for Fayose to always call teachers to meetings like he did this week to brainwash them on the state’s poor finances and later give them N1,500 pittance for transport until the next brainwashing session with these teachers on empty stomachs while he enjoys full life misapplying state’s money for his fancies.

    “This is more condemnable against the backdrop of facts available to Ekiti people that Fayose has been awarding contracts at over-bloated costs to his friends outside Ekiti State, contrary to his promise to patronise indigenous contractors during his campaigns.

    He contended that the money the state had collected since the governor assumed office was enough to make the people happy if he had applied the money honestly and transparently, adding that Thursday’s declaration of his presidential ambition was meant to distract the people from alleged funds mismanagement in pursuit of a selfish ambition.

    “The presidential declaration is a distraction to keep Ekiti busy from keeping attention to his illegality in the application of Ekiti money for selfish purposes and a ploy to embark on whipping up sentiments to escape justice in his misapplication of Ekiti money.

    “We urge the EFCC to be meticulous in their investigation into how the governor misapplied bailout of N20b, CBN’s N2b loan for small-scale enterprises, N10b loan for projects, N2.8b UBEC/Subeb counterpart fund (which was not matched by the state government), monthly allocation from the Federation Account to Local government councils and Paris Club cash that he has diverted to his ill-motivated projects for selfish motives while Ekiti people go to bed on empty stomachs.”

  • Lamido canvasses free, credible convention for PDP

    Lamido canvasses free, credible convention for PDP

    A former governor of Jigawa, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has called the leadership of Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) to ensure that the party’s December national convention would be free and fair.

    Lamido made the call when he met with ex-PDP Speakers of States Houses of Assembly forum on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said that anybody that emerged as PDP chairman would enjoy the required support from all party’s members.

    Commenting on Gov. Ayo Fayose’s declaration for presidency in 2018, Lamido said that it was the constitutional right of the governor to contest like every other Nigerians.

    He said that Fayose had the right to contest even though, the party had zone the 2019 presidential ticket to the North.

    He also advised PDP members to be courageous in the face of what he described as “persecution”.

    “We need people to be courageous.”

    He reiterated his determination to remain in PDP, saying “no matter how hard I try, if I move to All Progressive Congress ( APC ), my soul will not follow me.”

    Lamido added that without the party members who joined the APC, the party would not have defeated the Peoples Democratic Party in the last general elections.

    The former Minister of Foreign Affairs said that 2019 would be a defining moment for Nigeria.

    The former Ogun State Governor, Mr Gbenga Daniel also met with the forum.

    NAN

  • Governor’s aides join Adeyeye’s campaign

    Governor’s aides join Adeyeye’s campaign

    Some loyalists of Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose have moved to the camp of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant, Prince Dayo Adeyeye.

    Among those who dumped the governor are: former Commissioner for Public Utilities, Mr. Deji Adesua; former factional House of Assembly Speaker, Dele Olugbemi; and a Special Assistant, Alhaji Musa Kanga.

    They were among thousands of supporters, who welcomed Adeyeye yesterday to his campaign office on Ikere Road, and staged a road show for him.

    Kanga led scores of fellow Hausa PDP members in the state, pledging their loyalty and support for Adeyeye’s governorship ambition.

    Other ethnic nationalities that identified with the aspirant are: the Urhobo, the Idoma and the Igbo.

    Addressing reporters after meeting his supporters, Adeyeye said many prominent party members holding government and party posts would soon join him ahead of the primary.

    The aspirant described the September 6 adoption of Deputy Governor Kolapo Olusola as “a huge joke and comedy staged to entertain the people of Ekiti State”.

    The PDP National Caretaker Committee Publicity Secretary described Olusola’s adoption, which was masterminded by Fayose, as an “irresponsible impunity that has no force of the law”.

    He expressed confidence that the national leadership of the party will conduct a free, fair, transparent and credible primary to produce PDP’s flag bearer for the 2018 poll.

    Adeyeye said: “What happened last week at the Government House was a huge joke and an alawada (comedy) in which somebody just decided to entertain the people.

    “That was an irresponsible step to take. This is because if you are a leader, you should be the first person to obey the law and not the first person to break the law. You should not do something that will break the party.”