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Tag: Ekiti APC

  • Former commissioner urges unity in Ekiti APC

    Former commissioner urges unity in Ekiti APC

    Former Majority Leader of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Funminiyi Afuye, has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has a right chance to regain power in the state within the shortest possible time.

    Afuye also advised leaders of the party to be ready to sacrifice their personal ambition and work together to sack the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the Government House.

    In a chat with reporters at his Ikere Ekiti country home, Afuye explained that allegiance to the APC as a party is greater than allegiance to the groups or blocs they belong to within the party.

    The former Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation and later Integration and Intergovernmental Affairs during the Kayode Fayemi administration said the chances of the APC returning to power within the shortest possible time is right.

    He advised Fayemi to use his ministerial position to bring all members of the party on board and rally them into a strong force to stop what he called “impunity and poor governance” being witnessed by the people of the state.

    Afuye noted that having the APC in power at the centre is an advantage but party members must take their destiny in their hands and work hard to return the broom party to power “most especially as the PDP government has disappointed Ekiti people.”

    He said: “As we speak now, the party has various groups and most pathetic is the fact that some members are owing allegiances  to these groups than the party. This is dangerous for our survival as a party.

    “I still owes  the strong view and position that the Ekiti APC has what it to defeat Governor Fayose and the PDP. The last presidential election and even other elections went to show the real strength of our party.

    “Despite that we didn’t campaign the way we were supposed to, the PDP beat us narrowly in virtually all elections and that was the bandwagon effect  of the defeat we suffered during the last governorship election.

     

    “We didn’t expect  such a serious defeat, but it came and it demoralized some of our members.

     

    “We just have to forget about the past and think of the future. Our case is better off now with APC at the centre, so we must put our house in order before 2018 for us to reclaim Ekiti back from the PDP”.

     

  • Ekiti APC to Fayose: Declare your assets

    Ekiti APC to Fayose: Declare your assets

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has urged Governor Ayodele Fayose to declare his assets 10 months after its earlier call on the governor to follow his predecessor, Governor Kayode Fayemi, who publicly declared his assets to the applause of Ekiti people.

    Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, in a statement said that the call became imperative against the background of earlier calls for the governor to declare his assets, failure of which had fueled speculations that state resources were allegedly being channeled towards private enterprises outside the state by the governor.

    “The governor must seize the opportunity of declaring his assets to douse speculations of his alleged funneling of the state resources to his private enterprises abroad.

    “It is curious that he has not abused President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo after they declared their assets. Fayose’s loud silence on the President in this case is curious because the governor has never seen anything good in whatever the President does,” Olatunbosun said.

    Tasking the governor to act now to restore confidence in Ekiti people for accountable governance, he said open declaration of assets would shame the critics of the governor who always accused the governor of alleged funds diversion to private use.

    “We are worried by the unconfirmed reports of primitive acquisitions by the governor who allegedly own properties in Ghana, Dubai, South Africa, Abuja, Ibadan and Banana Islands and Magodo in Lagos which were believed to have been acquired in the last nine months after he assumed office.

    “Our party is aware that Fayose had no visible means of income prior to October 16, 2014 when he became governor and the properties he owned in Ibadan and Lagos are subjects of litigation by the EFCC, which is probing the governor for misappropriation and diversion of N1.3b poultry project cash to personal use in 2005,” Olatunbosun said.

    He said current allegations of funds diversion gained currency on the heels of Fayose’s frequent trips to Dubai and South Africa “whenever he receives Ekiti State’s allocations from Abuja”.

    He added: “Fayose is alleged to be building a state-of-the-art hotel in Dubai after he became Ekiti governor and after he is also reported to have paid a whopping N722 million to himself as “arrears of his allowances” as governor during his first term on the strength of the Supreme Court judgment which nullified his impeachment.

    “Curiously too, Fayose has kept mute on various sums of money he has received on behalf of the state government, such as the N22 billion refund on Federal roads, N2billion ecological fund, N2billion micro credit fund, which he has diverted, N2.1 billion bailout NLNG fund, N9.6 billion bailout cash, N8.5 billion windfall received in June and an average of N3billion regular federal allocations he has been receiving since October 2014 till date.”

    The APC spokesman said Ekiti people would be interested in the governor’s public declaration of his assets, considering the experience the state had under him during his aborted first tenure when he was docked for misapproriating N1.3billion over which the EFCC took him to court.

    “It would be recalled that in his former declaration of assets in 2003, the governor allegedly swore to an oath declaring two barren lands in a thick forest as two completed mansions in Ibadan, the properties the EFCC later confirmed as properties built with the alleged proceeds of the fraudulent poultry project four years after he became the governor,” he explained, stressing that failure to openly declare his assets was a possibility of history repeating itself after the former bitter experience.

    The recent appointment by Fayose of a 72 year old illiterate as a council boss and many others of his yes-men in other Council areas has fuelled our suspicion that he has successfully converted the resources of Local governments to his personal use without being accountable to anyone. It has thus become a matter of necessity for Mr. Fayose to declare his assets.

    Urging the governor to follow Buhari’s footstep, Olatunbosun said APC might have no option than taking legal action to force the governor to declare his assets to dispel rumours and allegations of properties acquisitions with state funds across the globe.

    “We will stop at nothing to make sure that Fayose declares his assets openly so that we could remind him if he leaves any of his assets undeclared,” Olatunbosun concluded.

  • N9.6b loan: Ekiti APC demands explanation

    N9.6b loan: Ekiti APC demands explanation

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has asked Governor Ayo Fayose to explain the reason for applying for N9.6b loan as part of the special Federal Government facility for states owing salary.

    It said there was no need to draw from a facility approved for states indebted to workers, since the governor had always claimed he did not owe salaries.

    The APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said in a statement that the governor’s explanation became pertinent against the backdrop of persistent claims that he did not owe workers.

    He added that Fayose’s explanation became necessary on account of Ekiti people’s experience with him on the alleged history of lack of accountability and transparency in the running of the state’s affairs.

    “It is difficult to trust a one-man government where the House of Assembly doesn’t have any voice and the Executive Council is not functioning, while the accountant-general and the auditor-general sign documents without questions on what they are asked to do by the governor,” Olatunbosun said.

  • Ekiti APC petitions NBC for ‘abuse’ of state media

    Ekiti APC petitions NBC for ‘abuse’ of state media

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has petitioned the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for alleged “professional abuses, deliberate falsehood and inciting broadcasts” on the state media.

    In a petition dated July 24 by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, the APC noted that although the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State (BSES) was fined N500,000 by the NBC this year, broadcasting regulations were still being violated.

    The party told the NBC that “there was no change in the misuse of the stations to haunt political opponents” as some programmes, especially a Yoruba newspaper review programme, were being used for “hatchet jobs”.

    According to the petition, stories which did not appear in any newspaper were being relayed on the programme “Lati Inu Aka” to mislead and misinform the public and malign political opponents.

    The statement said: “Sequel to our February 16 letter on the above subject matter, we are aware that the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State (BSES) was fined N500, 000 for the infractions bordering on professional misconduct.

    “Sadly, the stations have not desisted from this unprofessional broadcast as they have continued to feed the public with lies against opposition members.

    “The station’s Director-General, Lere Olayinka, once again exhibited his habitual unprofessional conduct by approving fabricated stories against my person, for the private producers and presenters of a popular Yoruba newspaper review programme ‘Lati Inu Aka’.

    “In the newspaper review on the radio station presented by the duo of Biodun Ilori and Kayode Falegan, they read the false story that Lere Olayinka had earlier circulated in an online junk newspaper.

    “They lied that I, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the Ekiti APC Publicity Secretary, has a big sore on my leg which they attributed to a spiritual attack as a result of my media criticisms of Governor Fayose over which a spiritualist had asked me to beg the governor for forgiveness. The date of this offensive broadcast was Friday July 24. Time was 8:15am to 9am.”

    Olatubosun regretted that the “offensive broadcast” had caused him embarrassment “as many family members and friends panicked over my health while others see me as a traitor who is begging Governor Fayose secretly while attacking him openly”.

    He added: “There is no iota of truth in the story but a fabricated lie from Lere Olayinka and his boss, Governor Ayo Fayose.

    “The presenters of the newspaper review are in the habit of reading any story presented to them by Olayinka even if it is not in any newspaper.

    “Our party in an earlier petition complained about this and we are again bringing their activities to your notice so that appropriate sanctions could be applied. This is an abuse of state power and bastardisation of media professional ethics.”

  • Ekiti APC groups merge

    Ekiti APC groups merge

    Two interest groups in the Ekiti State All Progressives Congress (APC), the G-35 and Ekiti Restoration Group (ERG) have merged in a bid to ensure victory for the party in 2018.

    A former member of the House of Representatives and ERG chieftain, Bamidele Faparusi, said the action was part of moves to sack the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    ERG was formed by APC House of Representatives members of the Seventh Assembly. G-35 comprises notable politicians like former council chairman Paul Abegunde, Ayodele Esan, Bunmi Akinniyi, Benson Omotayo, Oladele Adeniyi, among others.

    Faparusi, who represented Ekiti South between 2011 and 2015, said the merger was to foster unity and ensure proper realignment of forces and interests in the party.

    According to him, no efforts would be spared to make all interest groups in the party come together to ensure that the APC “inflict a crushing defeat on the PDP” which it maintains has failed Ekiti people with its performance.

    Faparusi said: “The APC does not only owe it a duty to present a credible opposition to the PDP administration, we should also form a united front to be able to bounce to reckoning and defeat the PDP in 2018.

    “We are working hard to ensure unity in our party and in doing this, no group will be sidelined. We are ready to bring everybody on board.”

    Esan said:  “There is nothing to fight about now but to rejoice that we won the central. Since we are able to achieve that tall feat, I don’t think Ekiti will be a herculean task.”

    “We will help the party by embracing party supremacy in all our dealings.

    We have to submit ourselves to the whims of the party because without it there is absolutely nothing we can do as individuals.”

  • Ekiti APC to PDP: murder charge against Awe hypocritical

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has said President Muhammadu Buhari did nothing wrong in hosting its Chairman, Olajide Awe.

    The party criticised the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for raising eyebrows over Awe’s appearance at Aso Rock.

    It said: “Nigerians know the difference between murder charge and contrived cases of alleged murder to hound political opponents.”

    In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary Taiwo Olatunbosun, the APC said the PDP’s insistence that Awe should not be allowed entry to the seat of power “was hypocrisy taken too far”.

    The party recalled that shortly after President Buhari made a public declaration to probe unresolved murder cases, Governor Ayodele Fayose was jolted into official reaction, urging the President not to play politics with  investigation of murders.

    Explaining that Fayose and the PDP contrived the crisis that led to the death of a PDP member, Olatubosun said Awe could not be blamed for the death that happened when he was not in town.

    The APC spokesman said: “All Nigerians knew when Fayose unleashed his thugs on Ekiti people with the alleged support of security agencies aided by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, which believed that Fayose represented the suppressing machine needed to win Ekiti State.

    “Awe’s alleged murder charge was the making of Fayose to put him out of circulation. This politically-motivated case was investigated and the accused were discharged by a court, until Fayose assumed office and reopened the case for political reasons.

    “We are aware that PDP is planning a press conference to allege that Awe killed Madam Jeje and Ayo in Erinjiyan just to blackmail President Buhari.”

    Olatubosun expressed indignation at this dishonest arm-twisting in the face of many alleged unresolved criminal cases hanging on the governor’s neck.

    He said it was hypocritical for Fayose to be allowed to contest election while criticising Buhari for allowing innocent Awe into Aso Rock.

    “Fayose must be prepared to defend himself, instead of a devious scheme to blackmail the President,” he said.

  • Court accepts Ekiti APC lawmakers’ request

    Court accepts Ekiti APC lawmakers’ request

    A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday accepted the application for discontinuance filed by 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, challenging the impeachment of Speaker Adewale Omirin.

    Justice Saliu Saidu awarded N100,000 cost in favour of the defendants.

    The plaintiffs had on April 7, filed an application through their lawyer, Norrison Quakers, seeking to discontinue their case against Governor Ayodele Fayose, the seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers and others, over the ‘unlawful’ removal of Omirin and his deputy, Adetunji Orisalade on November 20, last year.

    Also joined as defendants were the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police and the Department of State Service.

    Others include the three commissioners cleared for appointment by the PDP lawmakers in the House.

    The plaintiffs, among other things, sought an order restraining the factional Speaker of the House, Dele Olugbemi, and his deputy, Olayinka Abeni, from either parading themselves as or executing duties as leaders of the House.

    The plaintiffs’ move to discontinue the suit was objected to by the defendants, who argued that the matter should rather be dismissed, since it has filed its statement of defence.

    The defendants’ counsel, E.O. Afolayan, representing his principal, Femi Adesina, urged the court to dismiss the suit because “it is the proper thing to do”.

    He prayed the court to dismiss the case to foreclose any future representation of the matter by the plaintiffs.

    But the defence lawyer represented by Onyeka Ofoegbu said their prayer was for the court to strike out the matter.

    Justice Saidu held that he was cautioned in a democratic setting to dismiss a suit, as that will mean shutting the door of justice against a litigant.

    He said: “I have gone through the notice of discontinuance filed by the plaintiffs in this case and the objection of the defendants that they have taken steps in this matter by the processes filed and that this case ought to be dismissed and not struck out.

    “The issue of what is to be done in a situation like this where the defendants have taken steps is left at the discretion of the court.”

    Citing plethora of legal authorities, Justice Saidu said the court was urged not to take the cruel and lonely path of shutting the door of justice against a litigant.

    “In the present democratic setting in this country, I am seriously cautioned to take the path of striking out rather than dismissal. I hereby strike out this case with a cost of N100,000 against the plaintiffs,  and in favour of the first to eighth defendants, and 12th to 14th defendants in the case,” he said.

  • Ekiti APC alleges attacks by suspected PDP thugs

    Ekiti APC alleges attacks by suspected PDP thugs

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has raised the  alarm to fresh attacks on its members, barely 48 hours after the Supreme Court validated the election of Governor Ayo Fayose.

    The party said the latest attack on its members was recorded in Imesi-Ekiti in Gbonyin Local Government Area.

    A statement by the APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, urged security agencies to save the party members from those it described as “thugs working for Fayose and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)”.

    The APC alleged that many of its members were injured in Imesi and driven into the bush while their houses and property were destroyed.

    The PDP State Secretary, Tope Aluko, denied the attacks, accusing the opposition of always rushing to the press to feed the public with lies.

    Aluko said: “PDP members did not attack anybody. The people of Ekiti State are tired of lies.

    “We have no reason to attack anybody because we are still savouring the victory of our governor at the Supreme Court.

    “The APC should stop blackmailing Fayose, the man has extended a hand of fellowship to the party and it  should stop lying against him and our party.”

    Olatubosun said the hand of fellowship extended by Fayose was a smokescreen to deceive the people.

    He said: “We call on security agents to come to the rescue of APC members, whose only offence is that they belong to a different party.

    “We are amazed that the attacks increased and became more vicious on Tuesday after the Supreme Court ruled in Fayose’s favour.

    “We had thought that Fayose was sincere about extending an olive branch to all, including members of the opposition.

    “We wonder what else Fayose and his PDP attacking squad want after his victory at the apex court.

    “Does he want to exterminate all APC members simply because he has been confirmed as the governor? Does he want to become God?”

    Olatubosun added that the thugs had expanded the scope of their operations to include alleged attacks on APC members in Ayetoro and Emure-Ekiti.

  • Ekiti APC: victory dawn of new era

    Ekiti APC: victory dawn of new era

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has congratulated Nigerians for their peaceful conduct in Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections that produced the party’s candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, as the winner.

    The party said despite provocations, inducements, harassments and infractions on their rights by the force of state powers, APC members, supporters and people still managed to record that remarkable votes that shocked Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders.

    It also asked Ekiti people to defy Governor Ayodele Fayose’s curfew order, banning celebration of APC’s candidate’s victory.

    It urged the police not to allow themselves be used as anti-democratic agents to unleash terror on Ekiti people and APC members.

    A statement by Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said Buhari’s victory marked the beginning of sanity in the polity charactarised by lawlessness, corruption and impunity.

    “It is not only victory for Ekiti people, but victory for Nigerians for a successful transition from one civilian administration to another.

    “Nigerians from all walks of life are celebrating this special moment, Ekiti cannot be an exception. We are not mourning but celebrating.

    “It is sheer wickedness on the part of Governor Fayose to want to prevent this celebration,” Olatunbosun said

    He said the victory of APC’s candidate is a vote for transparency, performance and building of hope among Nigerians, assuring that Buhari would take Nigeria back to her deserved position in the comity of nations.

    Olatubosun said the APC-led Federal Government would implement its life-lifting programmes that would give Nigerians hope again, assuring that the new President would make the law work again in Nigeria.

    He said: “Signal is being sent to the peddlers of impunity that the end has come for their lawless acts. Corruption will have no place in the APC-led Federal Government. Our government will give justice, including economic justice, to Nigerians.

    “Our party has asked its members to defy order barring them from celebrating their party’s victory because it is their legal right. We are not fighting; we are celebrating.

    “Fayose should remember that he urged Ekiti people to defy Governor Kayode Fayemi’s curfew order when there was apparent threat to peace in the state. This time, there is no threat to peace and so there is no authority that can bar Ekiti people from celebrating our liberty and this victory.

    “All democratic institutions will operate unfettered within the ambit of the law.

    “On this note, we urge our 19 members in the House of Assembly to return to work immediately and take control of the affairs because a new era of law and order has returned.”

  • Ekiti APC alerts to Fayose’s fake jobs

    Ekiti APC alerts to Fayose’s fake jobs

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has called on the people to beware of the phantom jobs the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration wants to deceive them with.

    The party, in a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said Governor Ayodele Fayose’s plan to inaugurate an Appointment Committee to prepare for massive employment is a hoax.

    The APC said the plan was conceived on Monday at a meeting in the Spotless Hotel, where he told his loyalists that he would constitute the committee to sway aggrieved members of PDP to work for the party.

    Olatubosun said those Fayose would announce at its inauguration would be aggrieved PDP members, who are influential in their communities.

    He said this was a grand lie, adding that the governor would not appoint anybody as he had repeatedly said.

    “What is the job of the Civil Service Commission and the Local Government Service Commission? Or does a governor need any committee before he can approve appointments?

    “What has he done with job applications he asked Ekiti youths to write during his campaign when he promised that jobs would be available after his victory, if Ekiti people voted for him?

    “Check the Spotless Hotel where he packed all the application letters and you will discover that all the letters have been burnt,” Olatubosun said.

    The APC spokesman warned the people not to be deceived, saying whatever the committee recommends would be discarded after the election.

    The party said it had uncovered a plot by the governor to coerce civil servants and teachers to work for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan or get sacked.

    Olatubosun said two panels were set up to achieve the plan, adding that one  was for civil servants and another for teachers.

    He said the two panels had started functioning to ensure that workers are “whipped in line” to ensure their loyalty.