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Tag: Bamidele

  • Bamidele calls for unity in Ekiti APC

    Bamidele calls for unity in Ekiti APC

    Former House of Representatives member Opeyemi Bamidele has advised All Progressives Congress (APC) members in Ekiti State with governorship ambitions to shelve it and work towards rebuilding the party.

    He said the priority of all leaders and members of Ekiti APC is to promote unity, rebuild the party and make it an election-winning platform in 2018.

    Bamidele spoke in Iyin-Ekiti, at a rally to mark his formal return to the party at the ward level.

    He pleaded for forgiveness from anybody he might have offended with his movement to Labour Party (LP) in 2014.

    The former lawmaker  was received by party leaders, including Ekiti Central senatorial chairman, Chief George Ojo; Acting Chairman, Mrs. Kemi Olaleye; working committee members, local government and party ward leaders.

    Bamidele denied pursuing a spoiler role against former Governor Kayode Fayemi, saying he was neither a traitor nor a desperado.

    While advocating a better and stronger party ahead of  future polls, the former lawmaker pledged to work with other leaders.

    He said: “I want to assure you that my coming to the party will be known for good and God will use me to uplift the party’s glory.

    “The governorship election is still in 2018, let everybody put their ambitions aside.

    “We must rebuild the party and work towards unity because it is when the party is strong that it can become an election-winning platform.

    “The lesson for everyone is that no individual or group can do it alone because our strength is in our unity.

    “But I want to apologise to whoever I must have offended by my defection to LP to contest at that time.

    “In politics, differences can come in diverse ways. It has come for us in APC and we lost an election, so what should be paramount to us now is reconciliation and how to restructure our party.”

  • Bamidele:Buhari needs political will

    Bamidele:Buhari needs political will

    A former member of the House of Representatives, Opeyemi Bamidele, has said President Muhammadu Buhari needs more political will to tackle insurgency.

    Bamidele delivered a lecture yesterday at the fifth Annual Law Week of the Ado-Ekiti Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

    The lecture was titled: “Terrorism and Security Challenges to Consolidation of the Gains of Our Democracy: What Legal Implications and What Role for the Bar and Bench?”

    According to him, the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government must crack down on those fingered as sponsors of Boko Haram for the anti-terror war to be total.

    Bamidele called for the strengthening of the criminal justice system and law enforcement to give attention to preventive measures.

    “Of paramount importance is the protection of the right to life of potential victims of terrorism.

    “Buhari must build capacity to be able to effectively prosecute and convict offenders at the planning or preparation stage, as well as convict persons who fund or aid them.

    “In essence, focus should shift from prosecuting offenders involved in successful attacks or attempts, to prosecuting offenders for planning attacks or making funds available.”

     

     

  • Bamidele defends Buhari

    Bamidele defends Buhari

    A former member of the House of Representatives, Opeyemi Bamidele, has defended President Muhammadu Buhari on the delay in appointing ministers and aides.

    Bamidele, at a thanksgiving and prayer session to mark his 52nd birthday in his Iyin-Ekiti home yesterday, condemned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other critics of the President, who accused him of being “slow and clueless.”

    The birthday was celebrated by members of Bamidele’s political family, Ekiti Bibiire Coalition, who celebrated the virtues of the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain.

    According to him, Buhari cannot take action on impulse and need to take his time before assembling a winning team.

    Speaking through the Director-General of his Campaign Organisation, Ropo Ige, Bamidele said Buhari was taking his time to assemble people of integrity who would drive his vision to bring the expected change in the system.

    “President Buhari must learn from past mistakes. Looking at what happened in the last few years, he has to take his time to avert mistakes.”

  • Bamidele hails Buhari’s intervention in NASS leadership crisis

    Bamidele hails Buhari’s intervention in NASS leadership crisis

    A former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his intervention in the leadership crisis rocking the National Assembly among the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers.

    Bamidele also praised Buhari for emphasising the need for all members of the APC to align with the doctrine of party supremacy.

    The former Chairman, House Committee on Legislative Budget and Research, said the President by placing himself under the authority of the APC, has automatically resolved the leadership crisis rocking the two chambers of the National Assembly.

    In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Saturday by his media aide, Ahmed Salami, Bamidele urged the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to embrace what the leader of the party had demonstrated, in order to restore lasting peace to the party.

    He urged the duo to reciprocate the party’s gesture as communicated by its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, that their elections stand recognised, even in the face of breaching the party’s directive to actualise their aspirations.

    Bamidele said, “What President Buhari demonstrated was a paradigm from the old order where a party was often being treated as an appendage of its powerful members. With this clear position, I believe the crisis in APC is over.

    “President Buhari promised Nigerians change and he has started demonstrating this by showing how a good party structure must be under an ideal democratic situation. The party supremacy is a global convention and Nigeria cannot be an exemption no matter how we perceive our style of politics.

    “I see no reason why members would continue to feud when the national leader of the party had made it clear that the positions of the party is incontestable and must be respected at all times.

    “The two factions must concede to each other. They must shift positions and concede where necessary in order not to blow away the party’s goodwill with Nigerians.”

  • Bamidele must fulfill conditions,

    Bamidele must fulfill conditions,

    The furore over a lawmaker’s, Opeyemi Bamidele’s, defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) is yet to abate.

    His ward leaders in Iyin-Ekiti have maintained that Bamidele has certain conditions to fulfill before he will be allowed to join the party.

    A statement by Iyin Ward A Chairman Ope Ogundele and Iyin Ward B Chairman Folorunso Adeuyi said: “Our attention has been drawn to certain claims by  Opeyemi Bamidele on his purported membership of APC which, if not challenged, are capable of misleading the public.

    “It should be made clear that Bamidele was elected into the House of Representatives on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

    “He left for Labour Party just as APC was being born from the merger of ACN, CPC and ANPP; so, he was never a member of APC.

    “His claim, therefore, that he was never suspended is a ruse because we wonder why a man who was never a member of our party could be suspended from a party he never belonged to.

    “The fact is that he was never a member of APC at all. His name is nowhere in the register of APC members in Iyin Ward B.

    “Bamidele, as a Labour Party candidate, sponsored thugs to attack APC members in Iyin during the governorship race.

    “Records exist that wherever these hoodlums were apprehended, he was the one sponsoring their bail.

    “Bamidele’s purported contribution to President-elect Muhammadu Buhari securing 41 per cent of votes in Ekiti is laughable.

    “He did not attend any APC meeting ; neither did he make any positive contribution to the party.

    He is fond of currying APC’s leaders’ favour in Abuja on behalf of the party he has worked against in Ekiti.

    “For instance, Bamidele still sponsored Labour Party candidates against APC in the last House of Assembly elections even though his candidate emerged last.

    “Bamidele’s effort to deceive us into believing that our leaders endorsed his registration is quite amusing. We refuse to be deceived that any of our leaders could have asked Bamidele to register in Abuja.

    “On his popularity claim, he is a person who scored 18, 000 votes in his bid to become governor.

    “What other way to prove one’s popularity! Whereas he scored 42,000 votes in Ado and Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government when he was in ACN where he contested the National Assembly election.

    “In the last House of Assembly and National Assembly elections in his constituency, even though he moved round with LP candidates , his candidate scored 665 votes as against the APC candidate who scored 3,400 votes. This shows how popular and accepted Bamidele is!

    “He made reference to certain leaders who he perceives as enemies.

    “We do not want to imagine that he is referring to those who have succeeded where he had failed, by becoming governor at various times.

    “These people all registered in their various wards and their contributions to the party are very visible.

    “Finally, we want to remind Bamidele of what our national leaders, including Buhari recently said that everybody  should remain in his party for now. We encourage Bamidele to take that advice.”

  • Giving me conditions to join APC hypocritical, says Bamidele

    Giving me conditions to join APC hypocritical, says Bamidele

    House of Representatives member Opeyemi Bamidele has declared that he followed due process in joining the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Bamidele in a statement yesterday by his media aide, Ahmed Salami, condemned the position of APC ward leaders in his hometown, Iyin-Ekiti, who listed some conditions to be fulfilled before he could be admitted into the party.

    He claimed that the ward party chiefs are being used by those he described as “unscrupulous leaders”, who are afraid of his astuteness and ingenuity in politics.

    The APC leaders in Iyin Wards A and B in a communique at the end of a meeting said they learnt of Bamidele’s defection in the media as the ward executives  were not carried along.

    In a 10-point communique, Ope Ogundele and Folorunso Adeuyi listed certain conditions for Bamidele before he could be admitted into the party.

    Bamidele described the stand of the Iyin APC leaders as “not only antithetical to democratic norms and ethos but also hypocritical smacking of ignorance about the party’s modus operandi”.

    He argued that Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution vested on individual citizens, the right to join or exit any party without hindrance, once such person has not been expelled or suspended from such  party.

    Bamidele, who represents Ado-Ekiti/Irepodun Ifelodun Federal Constituency, said he told the National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun and the Deputy National Chairman (South), Segun Oni, and he got their blessings.

    He wondered where ward executives got the affrontery to act in such a “brazen manner” saying such an action suggests that they are ignorant of the constitution and party operations.

    “How on earth“would the ward executive have more powers than Odigie-Oyegun and Oni, who gave me the green light to cross over to the APC?

    The lawmaker advised the ward chairmen against committing what  he described as “insubordination  and flagrant violation of the party supremacy”  in their  disastrous quests  to massage the egos of some politically irrelevant party leaders, whose political prowess had plummeted by their  haughty and cunning actions.”

    He said: “If these ward leaders had not  displayed naivety, they ought to know that going by the normal party practice and conventions, somebody of  my  political standing must contact the national leaders of the party and effect the defection after getting the go-ahead, before thinking of contacting my ward for registration.”

    Bamidele urged the  ward  leaders to concentrate their energies on how to redirect the nosediving fortunes of the party, rather than  allowing some egocentric leaders to mislead them .

    He said: “Where were these  people and their so- called  leaders when Bamidele was heralded in to APC rally with a standing ovation in Ado Ekiti when he came at the instance of the national leaders of the party to become part of Buhari/Osinbajo presidential campaign project in Ekiti State?

    “Why did they not reject the massive contribution of Bamidele and his group between January and March 28 that led to Buhari securing 41per cent of votes in Ekiti State?

    “Genuine APC leaders   in Ekiti State are happy that Bamidele is  back within the fold because they are confident that with his coming things can not be the same in Ekiti State.

    “I am sure the national leaders of APC know what to do to abate this political nuisance.”

  • Bamidele’s APC ward leaders list terms for admission

    Bamidele’s APC ward leaders list terms for admission

    All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in a lawmaker,  Opeyemi Bamidele’s, ward are claiming that they are not aware he has returned to the party.

    The lawmaker had on Tuesday in Iyin Ekiti, Ekiti State, led his supporters to the APC.

    APC leaders in Iyin Ward A and B at a meeting listed conditions under which Bamidele would be admitted into the party.

    In a joint communiqué by the Chairmen, Ope Ogundele (Ward A) and Folorunso Adeuyi (Ward B), the party leaders said they were not happy with the way Bamidele defected to the Labour Party (LP) in 2013.

    The APC leaders are angry that after supporting Bamidele in the 2011 National Assembly poll, “he never appreciated the efforts but used his position to divide the party“.

    The communiqué reads: “Two years after his election, he dumped the party to join the Labour Party as a sole financier and as soon as he joined the LP, he became a torn in the flesh of the APC.

    “He and his cohorts pulled down the structure of our party and sponsored LP candidates against APC candidates.

    “We are shocked to learn of his defection through the media.

    “Bamidele neither came to his ward nor was he received by any party leader in accordance with the rules and regulations of our party.

    “We want to state unequivocally that we are not aware that he has defected to the APC.

    “We are saying emphatically that Bamidele will be welcomed to the party whenever he is ready to come down from his high horse and abide by the laid down rules and regulations of our party.”

  • Bamidele gets rousing welcome to APC

    Bamidele gets rousing welcome to APC

    The Elders’ Forum of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has expressed satisfaction with the return of the House of Representatives member, Opeyemi Bamidele, to the progressives fold.

    The body also advised the Commissioner of Police, Etop John James, to be fair to all parties and not to be fooled by the antics of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The group’s Publicity Secretary, Dr. Bayo Orire, said Bamidele’s return portends a good development for the party and a boost to its fortunes.

    Bamidele had on Tuesday defected from the Labour Party (LP) to the APC alongside his supporters and members of his political platform, Bibiire Coalition.

    Orire noted that Bamidele would add value to the APC and contribute to efforts to reposition the party for future challenges.

    He described the lawmaker as a great asset needed by the party in its bid to bounce back into reckoning.

    The party elder, however, warned some leaders and members of the party against working against those willing to join the party.

    He said what the APC needs is unity of purpose to tackle the alleged misrule of the PDP and not politics of exclusion and brooding over past differences.

  • Bamidele: Ekiti must be part of change train

    Bamidele: Ekiti must be part of change train

    •Lawmaker joins APC

    House of Representatives member Opeyemi Bamidele and his supporters yesterday  joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) with his supporters, promising to contribute their quota to strengthening the party.

    Addressing a briefing in Iyin-Ekiti, Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area, Bamidele said he had consulted widely with members of his political family, Ekiti Bibiire Coalition (EBC) and the national leadership of the APC before arriving at the decision.

    The Chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Budget and Research said EBC members are now at liberty to attend APC ward meetings and register as members.

    Bamidele left the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), one of the legacy parties that merged to form the APC and the platform through which he was elected into the House of Representatives, to join the Labour Party (LP) in November 2013.

    He contested on its platform in the June 21, last year governorship election in which he came third.

    Before joining the APC formally, Bamidele had on January 24 appeared at a presidential campaign rally addressed by President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, where he announced a working agreement between LP and APC for the March 28 presidential poll.

    Bamidele said on that day that he still remained a member of LP and would join APC after the general elections since LP was presenting candidates for the elections.

    Thanking LP for giving him a platform to fulfill his political aspiration, Bamidele explained that he had no alternative than to leave the party for APC because he was returning to his natural habitat.

    Bamidele argued that his joining APC was not borne out of personal ambition but to join the change train the party represents, adding that politicians of like minds should join the party in the interest of the people.

    According to him, “our coming together with those who are here before will further strengthen the party”.

    He praised the national leaders of the party, including Gen. Buhari, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and his predecessor, Chief Adebisi Akande for their roles in his return to the progressives fold.

    Bamidele added that despite leaving APC, he was always in touch with leaders of the party.

    He said with his entry into APC, the party would not be “the same APC the electorate rejected three times at the last general elections”.

    He said: “By and large, politics, if it is meant to serve the common interest, must be a dynamic aspect of human endeavour that embodies a whole process of expression, competition and reconciliation of personal interests for the ultimate benefit of the people.

    “Let me use this opportunity to reiterate that my decision to contest for the governorship of Ekiti State was borne out of my innate conviction and that of many like-minds, most of whom are illustrious sons and daughters of this great State, that though the ACN-led administration then was doing its best, however, its best was not enough for our much expectant but highly disillusioned people.

    “All of us contested on different platforms but as we all know in any contest, someone must emerge the winner.

    “Whether or not the contest was fair, posterity and the court of law shall judge. That is not the bone of contention for today’s press briefing. I sincerely urge you to let us defer that to another day.

    “Today, by the special leading of Almighty God and after the due consultation with my family, friends, confidants and political associates I, Opeyemi Bamidele, hereby wish to declare my intent to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

     

  • Bamidele gives N2m to candidates

    Bamidele gives N2m to candidates

    House of Representatives member, Opeyemi Bamidele, has donated N500,000 to the victorious Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Irepodun/Ifelodun Constituency 1 of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Olamiposi Omodara.

    Bamidele gave the cash to Omodara, when he visited the winner on Saturday night.

     Labour Party (LP) candidate Opeyemi Oguntuase and All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bisi Dada got N250,000 each.

    The lawmaker extended the gesture to the two candidates for putting up a good fight and displaying maturity during the election.

    The PDP and APC candidates are from Bamidele’s Ibedoyin Quarters; Oguntuase is from Oke Ilawe in Iyin Ekiti, Bamidele’s  hometown.

    A statement yesterday by Bamidele’s media aide Ahmed Salami said the cash gift decision was to cement the tie of brotherliness in Iyin and to prove a point that politics should be a game to unite the people.