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Tag: Michael Opeyemi Bamidele

  • Senator efforts get praise

    Senator efforts get praise

    Chairman  of Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (MOB), has been lauded for his achievements in constituency projects for Ijero-Ekiti and Ekiti State.

    Ayo Buba, a journalist, gave the commendation in a statement at the weekend.

    Buba said during his tour of Ekiti State, which ended in Ijero-Ekiti, he witnessed some projects done by the senator.

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    He listed the projects, including “solar street lights, 20 poles spreading along Igemo Street, Odo-Ese Street, Oke Agba Street and Olanipekun Street, Ijero-Ekiti, are truly physically there to be seen and inspected.”

    Buba also noted a 500 KVA transformer at community health centre, Ijurin Ekiti, motorised solar boreholes, at Odo Oye Compound 1, Ijero-Ekiti; the local government Secretariat Road, Ijero-Ekiti, Oba’s Palace at Ayegunle Ekiti.

    The completed constituency projects, he said, also extended to Ojude-Oba, Ilukuno-Ekiti, Okebola Street, Iloro/Ijurin and Oke Oja Ikoro Ekiti.

  • 2015 budget: Reps reject $65 benchmark

    2015 budget: Reps reject $65 benchmark

    The House of Representatives has rejected the $65 benchmark proposed in the 2015 budget by the executive.

    It said the 2015 proposed budget was based on certain policy thrusts, instruments and assumptions that were flawed and must be “critically” addressed.

    From all indications, the House will stick to a $50 benchmark or something slightly above that figure.

    The Green Chamber described the benchmark for 2015 budget as “unrealistic and problematic,” saying “the budget cannot fly.”

    It has also faulted another parameter in the budget which is the 2.278 million barrels per day crude oil production estimate in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), saying it does not also reflect current realities.

    This disclosure comes even as a 17-member special committee meets with the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, on Thursday.

    This disclosure on the position of the House was made by the Chairman, National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO), Hon. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele.
    “Definitely, this is a wrong assumption. It’s a problem and part of the reasons the budget cannot fly.

    “Going by what is happening in the international crude oil market, it’s wrong and unrealistic for the executive arm of government to have proposed a $65 per barrel benchmark,” he stated.

     

  • Ekiti to Bamidele: sentiment on water was a mischief

    Ekiti to Bamidele: sentiment on water was a mischief

    TO Ekiti State Government, the sentiment expressed by the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the June 21 election, Mr. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, on water problem in the state was not only lacking in merit, but also borne out of mischief.

    The government’s position came after Bamidele allegedly scored Fayemi low on his administration’s alleged “inability to bring water for drinking and other domestic uses to the doorsteps of residents of Ekiti State after over three years in office”.

    But in a reaction on behalf of the state government, the Commissioner of Information, Mr. Tayo Ekundayo, said it was quite unfortunate that Bamidele, who should know better, has chosen to play politics with facts.

    The commissioner pointed out that Fayemi had made the perennial problem of water one of his priority projects and had been addressing it since he mounted the saddle over three years ago, “the way Bamidele would not have done.”

    “Lack of potable water is a national problem, but the pragmatic and intensified efforts of the state government towards eradicating scarcity and improving accessibility to hygienic water has improved the state ranking as one of the best two in the water sector in the country,” Ekundayo said.

    “To show that we have concrete plans in place to combat water problems, we on assumption of office in October 2010 met water provision at 25 per cent and we have been able to increase it to 57 per cent three years after. We are approaching the problem in a three-pronged manner: The short, medium and long terms.

     

  • Bamidele preaches unity

    Bamidele preaches unity

    Ekiti State Labour Party (LP) candidate for the June 21 governorship election Mr. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (MOB) has said the state can only develop, if the people are united.

    Bamidele encouraged the people to be peaceful in their conduct, especially during campaigns, saying: “The electorate must not support politicians who want to use them for their selfish ends. Ekiti people are one and in togetherness and unity we shall move the state forward and restore its lost glory. Unity is key to development. We have to agree on this.”

    Bamidele, who kicked off his campaign last weekend in Ido-Ekiti, visited Oye and Ikole local government areas yesterday.

    He was received by his admirers, who defied the scorching sun to make it to the venues.

    Bamidele said: “Agriculture, which is the mainstay of our economy, will be one of my programmes as our land remains accommodating of any crop you decide to plant in it.”

    Pledging to encourage mechanised farming, he said: “This is the only way we can have enough food for local consumption and export. Any government that considers the nutritional sufficiency of its populace would give more than passing attention to agriculture. Go to any developed country today, you will know that mechanised agriculture is the only answer to food insecurity.

    “With successful mechanised agriculture, our farmers will be enabled to tap into larger markets in the state and across the country. This will increase their income.”

    Bamidele pledged to create a business-friendly atmosphere and pledged to create jobs for youths within six months, if elected.

     

     

  • APC: Bamidele unfit to govern Ekiti

    APC: Bamidele unfit to govern Ekiti

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has said the member representing Ekiti Central Constituency 1 in the House of Representatives, Mr. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, a.k.a. MOB, is unfit to rule the state.

    It described Bamidele’s defection to the Labour Party (LP) as a welcome development by the APC and Ekiti people.

    In a statement by its Publicity Director, Segun Dipe, APC said Bamidele is “puerile” and, as such, could not have realised his governorship ambition in the party.

    It said: “Just like Macbeth, Bamidele has premised his governorship ambition on some prophesy. He has been dishing out fables as facts without minding whose ox is gored and without recourse to the party that gave him the opportunity to rise to the level he finds himself, including the position he presently occupies in Abuja.

    “In various interviews, Bamidele claimed to have practically dragged Governor Kayode Fayemi from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the defunct Action Congress (AC) and introduced him to APC National Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2006. Such lies could only have come from someone who desires power at the devil’s cost.

    “Asiwaju Tinubu and Dr. Fayemi met and worked together in the early 1990s, when they were both involved in the pro-democracy struggle. Whenever the story of Nigeria’s political activism is told, Fayemi’s name is constantly mentioned and placed in the front burner as against Opeyemi’s claim to infantile activism. This is in the public domain.

    “Fayemi never joined PDP or any other party before joining the defunct AC. Apart from his role in the human rights and pro-democracy community, Fayemi brought the Department for International Development (DFID) to Ekiti during the administration of former Governor Niyi Adebayo (1999-2003). Opeyemi was at that time a commissioner in Lagos State for nine years and we cannot remember what positive development he brought to Ekiti.

    “Our party’s position is that while Bamidele is qualified to contest the governorship poll like anyone else and free to realise his dream on any platform of his choice as provided for by law, he is not the kind of candidate the APC wants to present to the good people of Ekiti.

    “He is incompetent to govern Ekiti State by our party’s parameters and that of the now discerning Ekiti people. Opeyemi has just completed two of his four-year assignment at the House of Representatives and is yet to give the party his report.

    “The incumbent, Fayemi, is our tested and trusted choice. He became our party’s governorship candidate through internal democracy and has raised the bar of governance beyond the feeble reach of the likes of Bamidele, whose only stock in trade is giving individuals peanuts. He thinks if Fayemi could do it, he too can do it, forgetting that trajectories differ. Opeyemi and his ilk should remember that God does not necessarily use the qualified, but would rather qualify those he uses.

    “Here is a person who cannot be trusted with any private matter. He is not a team player and prefers to be served than to serve. He has made himself available as a willing tool in the hands of the enemy. What name should we call such a person? Opeyemi is an epitome of deception and feudalism. He is good at giving peanuts to individuals, instead of committing his resources to lasting projects for the benefit of the majority.

    “This is no longer permissible in Ekiti. Our people abhor deception and autocracy and do not want to serve anyone. They want to be served by a well-meaning person, who understands their needs and would meet them selflessly.

    “Bamidele’s claim to fishing Fayemi out is a complete lie. He is not a man that can be saddled with an integrity search. If he had such an opportunity to single-handedly make someone a governor as he claimed, the person would have been himself. But this would have violated the political configuration of the state.

    “His Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area (LGA) has produced three governors in the past, with two from his home town, Iyin-Ekiti. Most importantly, change, just for the heck of it, cannot be sold to the people, who are still enjoying the dividends of democracy being served by our party through the Fayemi administration.”