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Tag: Oke

  • Oke: I want to build Ondo APC

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Chief Olusola Oke, has said his priority is to join other party leaders to build a formidable party.

    In a statement by his media aide, Rotimi Ogunleye, Oke said he is determined to be a part of a process that will deepen democracy, deliver accountable leadership and bring good governance to the people.

    “My priority is to join other APC leaders to build a stronger and formidable party in Ondo State. Contrary to unhealthy speculations from some quarters, I am not chasing any position.

    “More than anything, restoration of good governance in Ondo State is my priority. This I am committed to,” Oke said.

  • Oke: PDP trying to implicate me

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Chief Olusola Oke, yesterday alerted to the plot by some politicians to deposit firearms in his home.

    Oke, who joined the APC recently, also alleged that some politicians were planning to implicate him by depositing bodies around his home.

    A statement by his media assistant, Rotimi Ogunleye, alleged that some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) politicians, who were not comfortable with the outcome of the last House of Assembly election in Ilaje Local Government Area, which was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), were behind the plot.

    Oke called on security agencies to unravel the plot.

    According to him, “for our electoral process to be free of banditry and firearms-bearing thugs the system they operate must be liquidated and their sponsors brought to book.”

  • Oke, Kuku schemed out of Ondo PDP

    Oke, Kuku schemed out of Ondo PDP

    Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, appears not to be making any pretense about his leadership status in the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    That the governor now calls the shots in Ondo PDP is no longer in contention. Following his defection from the Labour Party (LP) to PDP, some old members of his new party resisted his leadership of the party, but their strident objection has not yielded any positive intervention from both the Presidency and the national leadership of the party.

    The biggest casualties of the brouhaha are a former governorship candidate of the party, Chief Olusola Oke and the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku, who are now made to look like outsiders or better still onlookers in the affairs of the party.

    But while Oke has openly vowed not to kowtow to the governor, sources say Kuku is playing it cool in order not to jeopardise the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan in the state.

  • Oke: I’m not answerable to Mimiko

    Oke: I’m not answerable to Mimiko

    •Governor, party chief battle over Jonathan’s campaign

    President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid has caused a “rift” between Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the 2012 election, Olusola Oke.

    Oke accused Mimiko of allegedly sponsoring a newspaper publication that he was not fully committed to the state PDP’s presidential campaign team.

    He said he was not answerable to the governor.

    Addressing reporters at the weekend in Akure, the state capital, Oke said the publication intended to paint him as a man who is not doing enough for Jonathan’s re-election.

    The former PDP candidate said the governor has no moral grounds to challenge him on the defection of PDP members to APC, noting that the number of his followers who joined PDP was lesser than the number of Mimiko’s supporters who have joined the opposition.

    He said: “When the issue of ministerial slot came out after the 2011 general elections, the President gave two slots to the National Working Committee (NWC); one was to come from the South, the one from the North and without debate, the NWC put down my name.

    “It was this same Mimiko who did everything to frustrate my emergence and at the end of the day, he succeeded in picking his sister from the same ward.

    “This is the first time this will happen in Ondo State that the governor and the minister would come from the same ward. I didn’t complain.

    “I have maintained silence on the political situation in the country, especially in Ondo State, so that, I am not misunderstood.

    “Presently, I prefer at this time to work and talk less because I believe that the politics of contemporary Nigeria is not about propaganda it is about interacting with the people, showing them who you are, telling them what you can do, telling them what you have done with your promises and instill confidence in the people.

    “I am convinced in my mind that the people behind this publication are no other persons than PDP members of Labour Party (LP) extraction and I point all fingers at Governor Mimiko.

    “I am convinced that he is behind this, it is in his character and nature; a leopard can never change his spots. He is at it again.

    “He alleged that I have not been working for the party. First and foremost, I am not answerable to Dr. Mimiko.

    “I am a PDP leader in the state and I work independently. I am a leader, he is a leader and we also have other leaders in the state. So, I am not expected to bring a daily report to him about how I work.

    “He believes in propaganda but I believe in interacting with the people. I go from community to community.

    “For instance, last week, I came home, I met with the youth, the women leaders and community leaders and I am not a person who jumps around.

    “I am one person, who has been in the PDP since inception. I am not a joiner. I didn’t go to AD, I didn’t go to LP and I have been here and so no new comer can talk to me on how to work in PDP.

    “I am the one to educate them about democracy in PDP, about how we behave here.

    “About how we respect the integrity of people; about how we relate with each other. We in PDP don’t have a headmaster or sole administrator.

    “It is unfair for anyone to accuse me of romancing with the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “I am a politician of national repute. If I have any reason to leave PDP, I will leave.

    “I have no reason to leave because it is my party. I breathe PDP, dream PDP and I have been in the party for so long.

    “I am not like others who jump in and out. They jumped in when the weather is good and go out when it is not good.

    “So, if anyone said I am not working, it is because I am not answerable to them and I am not going to show my testimonial of what I am going to do. I am a believer of the transformation agenda of Mr. President. I am not going to report to any landlord or headmaster.”

  • Omisore, Oke, Akinlabi for Osun PDP governorship ticket

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State said yesterday that three of its members indicated interest in its governorship ticket.

    They are Mr. Oluwole Oke from Obokun Local Government Area; Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi from Ayedaade Local Government Area and Senator Iyiola Omisore from Ife East Local Government Area.

    Oke is a former member of the House of Representatives. Akinlabi is a former senator and minister. Omisore is a former deputy governor and senator.

    The party set last Dec. 31 as the deadline for members to pick up its nomination form, which cost N5 million.

    In a statement, Osun PDP Chairman, Alhaji Gani OlaOluwa, said only the three aspirants fulfilled the conditions for nomination and assured them of a level playing ground.

  • Oke hails Appeal Court’s ruling

    Oke hails Appeal Court’s ruling

    The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in last October’s governorship election in Ondo State, Chief Olusola Oke, at the weekend praised the judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, which set aside the ruling of the Election Petition Tribunal.

    Oke said the Appeal Court’s ruling showed that the Judiciary has men of impeccable character, who are determined to ensure justice at all times.

    Oke approached the Appeal Court to challenge the February ruling of the lower tribunal, which struck out the name of the PDP from his petition.

    The Justice Andoverr Kaka’an-led tribunal struck out some paragraphs in Oke’s petition and did not allow him present more facts to prove the alleged illegal injection of names into the voters’ register.

    The five-man appeal panel restored PDP as a petitioner in the case. It also restored some paragraphs of Oke’s petition.

    The Justice Habu Gumel-led panel dismissed the preliminary objections by the Labour Party’s (LP’) candidate, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, on the grounds that it was incompetent and an abuse of court process.

    Oke hailed the Justices of the Appeal Court for their courage.

    He said: “The ruling has vindicated our stance that the decisions of the Justices of the lower tribunal were jaundiced. Issues regarding leadership are too sensitive to be handled with levity. The ruling is a challenge to the lower tribunal to stand above sentiments.”

     

  • Oke submits petition against Mimiko’s victory

    Oke submits petition against Mimiko’s victory

    THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the just- concluded governorship election in Ondo State, Chief Olusola Oke, yesterday joined three other political parties’ standard bearers at the tribunal to challenge the declaration of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP) as winner.

    Other parties that have already filed their petitions to challenge the election results are the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Accord Party (AP) and the Peoples Democratic Change (PDC).

    Oke, who filed a 1,265- page petition, stormed the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Akure, the state capital, around 1.05pm with his legal team.

    During the sitting, PDP and Oke will be presenting 143 witnesses.

    The party will also challenge election results from 17 local government areas of the state, claiming the poll was marred with irregularities.

    The petitioners also urged the tribunal to declare its candidate the winner or order for re-run since the incumbent governor was not duly elected.

    The lead counsel of Oke’s legal team, Barrister Yinka Osokoto, who spoke with reporters, said Mimiko did not score the majority votes.

    He disclosed that arrangements have been concluded to invite three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) to join him in handling the case.

     

  • Election materials delayed in Ilaje, says Oke

    The Ondo State governorship elections went peacefully in Ilaje local government area yesterday as people of the area trooped out in their numbers to elect their choice candidate in the poll.

    The electorate turned out enmasse and stayed back at various polling units after accreditation to participate in the actual voting.

    However, there were no security men at many of the polling units, especially in the riverine areas, a situation which created tension in some of the polling units.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Chief Olusola Oke, after casting his vote at his Unit 005 at Ilogho in Ugbo III Ward in the Ilaje Council area, expressed disappointment at the late arrival of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials and materials for the poll in the council area.

    Oke said, this was responsible for lateness in starting the accreditation and voting in many parts of the council.

    He lamented that voting did not take place in some units in the Ugbo Ward I and other areas owing to absence of polling officials.

    The PDP candidate, said although INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, meant well in the bid to transform the nation’s electoral process, there were some bad eggs in the electoral body that needed to be removed for elections to be perfect.

    He lamented that some registered voters were disenfranchised as their names could not be found on the INEC register.

     

  • Oke berates Mimiko over education crisis

    The Olusola Oke Campaign Organisation [OOCO] has berated the Ondo State government for the collapse in the education sector of the state.

    A statement by the Deputy Director of the Organisation, Rotimi Ogunleye, described as an unpardonable failure the situation where all the tertiary institutions in the state have been shut down due to government’s insensitivity and high handedness.

    Oke who is the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state also carpeted the government over the refusal to pay secondary school teachers the 27.5% professional allowance it promised them two years ago.

    “It is sad that a government which calls itself a caring heart has unleashed draconian regime and outright terrorism on the workers of the state- owned Adekunle Ajasin University and the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic.

    “Today, over 3,000 staff of the institutions are on strike while over 8,000 students of the two institutions are left wandering about.”

     

     

     

  • PDP chieftains, supporters defy rain for Oke

    PDP chieftains, supporters defy rain for Oke

    Despite the downpour in Akure yesterday that nearly marred the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Chief Olusola Oke’s campaign mega rally, chieftains and supporters of the party defied the rain and trooped out for the event.

    The politicians, clad in yellow vests and fez caps, chanted Oke’s name and sang political songs in the heavy rain which lasted for about three hours.

    Some PDP chieftains became prayer warriors at the rally held at the Akure Democracy Park. They sought God’s intervention and asked him to stop the rain.

    Oke and his running mate, Saka Lawal, who led Vice-President Namadi Sambo, the National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and other chieftains to the podium, were moved by the commitment of the chieftains and members who defied the rain and waited for them.

    The PDP standard bearer in the October 20 poll and his running mate later joined the chieftains and members of the party in the rain for the rally.

    Sambo hailed the supporters. He said they have shown that the PDP is ready to reclaim the state.

    The Vice-President said the Ondo people are agitating for a change and want the PDP to reclaim the state.

    Sambo expressed the commitment of the presidency to a free and fair election, saying the President Goodluck Jonathan administration would provide the machinery that would ensure the One Man, One Vote Philosophy.