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Tag: OSUN

  • Osun hosts conference for journalists

    The 2014 edition of the annual conference of the Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN), will be held in the State of Osun, the association has said.

    The state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Sunday Aker, who received the representatives of the association, said the state, under Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is always willing to identify with individuals and organisations that could aid its developmental drive for the state.

    The Chairman of the group, Mr. Goddie Ofose, during a courtesy visit to the commissioner, said with the way the state governor has branded tourism, the association considers taking  discourse on tourism marketing to the state and it is expected to hold between November 20 and 23 with a topic: ‘Tourism marketing as catalyst for economic development’. The 2013 edition was held in Ogun State.

    According to Ofose,  “BJAN members have taken pain to follow up the activities of the State of Osun in the area of tourism, particularly the way the annual Osun Osogbo cultural festival has suddenly turned to international event. We do not only consider it necessary to reel out the economic benefits of tourism, we want to add our voices to how it can be better marketed. We want other states to learn from Osun and we want Federal Government to invest more in the industry,”

    Responding, Akere described the Aregbesola-led administration as a media-friendly government that would continue to contribute its quota to every step taken to add values to journalism practice in the country.  He said: “As a government that appreciates the place of effective communication in government, the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has always regarded the media as a major partner in the journey to touch lives and bring rapid development into the State of Osun,”

    The speakers expected at the conference include; President Nigeria Guild of Editors,  Femi Adesina; MD, Chain Reaction, Israel Jaiye Opayemi; and COO, 141 Worldwide,   Bunmi Oke. Meanwhile, Hon. Sunday Akere has been pencilled down to open the conference while it will be chaired by the Registrar Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, Alhaji Garba Bello-Kankarofi.

     

  • Osun to release water from dams

    Osun to release water from dams

    The Osun State government has said it will release water from its dams to avoid collapse of the structures.

    In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Sunday Akere, the government called on residents not to panic, particularly when they witness flood in communities hosting the dams.

    Akere said: “Weather experts have predicted heavy rainfall as the rainy season gradually ends.

    “And if the government refuses to allow the excess water to be released gradually, the heavy volume of water flow from the dams may lead to dangerous flood.”

    The commissioner said the heavy rainfall witnessed in the past weeks have led to excess water lodging inside the dams, warning that if the water is not released it may lead to terrible flooding.

    He added that residents of Ede, Iwo, Ejigbo, Okinni and many communities around where there are dams should be aware that little floods may occur when the water would be released.

     

  • Osun APC to PDP: produce verdict nullifying legislators’ election

    Osun APC to PDP: produce verdict nullifying legislators’ election

    Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged the state’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to produce a certified true copy (CTC) of the pronouncement of the Federal Court of Appeal, which sat in Akure last week and nullified the elections of federal and state legislators conducted by Rufus Akeju in 2011.

    The party said until the PDP can produce the CTC, Nigerians and Osun people should discountenance the party’s claim that the court had nullified the elections.

    APC Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi, in a statement, said there was “no such declaration by any court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” adding that what the PDP has fed the public “is not only a misinformation, it is a blatant lie.”

    The APC stated as follows:

    “Before the 2011 election was held, the PDP went to the Federal High Court, Osogbo to stop Amb. Akeju, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, from supervising the said election on the allegation that the commissioner was allegedly a card-carrying member of the ACN (now APC) and a close associate of Senator  Bola Tinubu, APC National Leader.

    “The Osogbo Federal High Court granted the PDP an interlocutory injunction restraining Akeju  from supervising  the conduct of the election, but refused the prayer that INEC be restrained from conducting the election. However INEC immediately appealed and obtained a stay of execution of that ruling pending the determination of its appeal.

    “Curiously, while the appeal was pending, prior to the election, the PDP also went back to the same Osogbo Federal High Court. Against all known legal procedure to demand a stay of proceedings of the case it took to the High Court. So effectively, not only the INEC, but also the PDP stopped any further action on the substantive matter until the determination of the appeal in the Court of Appeal, Akure.

    “ The elections  held while the litigation was practically on hold.

    “After the elections (which the PDP lost woefully), they went to court –  not the Tribunal – to seek to nullify the election by bringing a fresh suit instead of the initial suit appealed against. The INEC promptly challenged the court jurisdiction to entertain the suit and the PDP on their own volition promptly withdrew the suit. “However, on the initial suit pending at the Federal High Court, which the PDP got an order for stay, ACN then applied to be  a joinder and the application was granted. But when other political parties sought similar joinder, the court rejected their application and they also immediately appealed that decision.

    “ So effectively, four different applications were before the courts – two in Osogbo and two at the Court of appeal, Akure. The appeal by INEC against the interlocutory injunction granted the PDP before proceedings were held up in Osogbo was the one determined on Friday in Akure.

    “ Our authentic information is that the court declared that the process of filing the appeal by INEC was defective, hence incompetent and was as a result struck out. “The Court of Appeal neither made pronouncement on the substantive suit, which is not before the Court of Appeal, but still pending in Osogbo, nor did it declare the elections  of 2011 ‘null and void’ (as the PDP is misleading Nigerians).

    “ As you read this, the PDP has a live case before the Federal High Court in Osogbo where it seeks the court to pronounce Amb. Akeju incompetent (because he is allegedly partisan) to conduct the 2011 election. That case has been put on hold by the PDP itself and until the party reopens the case, and get a pronouncement of ‘guilty as charged’, against Akeju, the Osun REC remains innocent. What Akure court did was to strike out a defective notice which can still be refiled.

    “The substantive case in which the PDP is seeking a court’s (not the Electoral Tribunal) pronouncement that the legislative elections of 2011 were allegedly null and void, has been withdrawn at the Federal High Court,  Osogbo. So, an Appeal Court cannot make a pronouncement on a matter that has not even  been heard or argued by the parties involved, at the High Court.

    “This completely exposes the stupidity of PDP’s claims that, by any warped implication, the Friday’s pronouncement by the Federal Court of Appeal in Akure has any direct or indirect bearing on the substantive case in Osogbo. The case is yet to be determined by the Federal High Court.”

    The APC therefore appealed to the public and the media “to be wary of information coming from the PDP and cross-check facts before arriving at conclusions or disseminating fallacies, which Osun PDP has become notorious of spreading.”

  • Parties trade words over planned protest against Osun poll’s result

    Parties trade words over planned protest against Osun poll’s result

    The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State and the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), traded words yesterday over a plot by the latter to sponsor a mass protest to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to denounce the result of August 9, governorship poll won by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

    APC also alleged that the PDP had concluded arrangements to carry out a sustained mayhem in Osun to make the state ungovernable.

    Its Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi, who revealed the plan in a statement yesterday, said the state’s “PDP leadership is already arranging for hundreds of youths to be transported to Abuja to protest the victory of Aregbesola in the August 9 governorship election.”

    The party insisted that the PDP had “fashioned an elaborate plan to create mayhem in the state and give the impression of popular displeasure at the outcome of the election.

    “The first phase of this plan is to hire 10 buses that will convey young men and women to Abuja to protest Aregbesola’s victory. The youths are allegedly being motivated with N10 million to participate.

    “This protest will be based on the yet-to-be- substantiated allegation by the PDP that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) colluded with the governor and the APC to rig the August 9 election. The underlying theme of the Abuja protest by the PDP will be that INEC gave the election to the APC to prevent President Goodluck Jonathan from winning the 2015 presidential election. So, the protest will be effectively against the INEC and the APC.”

    But the PDP described the allegation as ridiculous.

    The party Publicity Secretary, Prince Bola Ajao, in a statement yesterday, said the allegation should not be taken seriously.

    “It is unfortunate that they are coming up with this cock and bull story. As a matter of fact, we are civilised people who are always in tandem with due process and rule of law. We are at the election petition tribunal and we are sure that with all the unassailable and incontrovertible evidences on ground, we would retrieve the mandate given to our candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, by the people.”

  • Osun signs N10b road contract

    Osun signs N10b road contract

    Osun State has inked a N10 billion contract for the rehabilitation and construction of 224.6-kilometre rural roads.

    The Special Adviser to the Governor on Rural Development and Community Affairs, Mr. Kunle Ige, revealed this to reporters in Osogbo at the weekend.

    He said the project, tagged: Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP), is supported by the World Bank and French Development Project.

    Ige added that the two foreign organisations have contributed about 75 per cent of the fund while the government paid N2.5 billion counterpart funds, representing 25 per cent.

    The contract, according to him, has been awarded to Messrs Westmidland Construction Company Limited, Messrs Wetland Construction Nigeria Limited and Messrs Lee Fakino Nigeria Limited.

    Ige noted that among the participating four states – Adamawa, Osun, Enugu and Niger states – in the RAMP, Osun was the first to meet up with conditions for the signing of the contract, which would enhance access and mobility in the rural areas.

    The Special Adviser, who noted that the project would boost the state’s economy, said most of the roads to be constructed would lead to farm settlements.

    He added that the road project would make it convenient to transport agricultural produce to the cities after the completion of the roads.

    The governor’s aide said the contractors would be monitored to ensure that they carry out the project according to specifications.

  • ‘Why we rejected Omisore in Osun’

    ‘Why we rejected Omisore in Osun’

    Frontline industrialist and elder statesman, Chief Tunde Badmus, speaks with Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, on the last August 9, 2014 governorship election in Osun State and why the people of the state are comfortable with Governor Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola. He also shed more light on recent political happenings in the country. Excerpts

    How would you assess the performance of INEC in the August 9, 2014 gubernatorial election here in Osun State?

    Well, as far as I am concerned, INEC did a good job with that crucial election. Before now, I used to think the 1993 June 12 election of Chief MKO Abiola is the best election we ever had; now I think the Osun election is better in many ways. I cannot find any aspect of the election where INEC failed. I went out that day and saw things for myself. The INEC officials were effective, the youth corps members were thorough and everybody followed instructions. So, it was a very commendable exercise. I wouldn’t know if there are any other hidden issues, but with the things we saw, INEC performed. I believe in Jega and he has proven that he is honest and reliable. You can imagine, immediately after the election, he came out to say the over-militarisation of the state is not good and shouldn’t be repeated anywhere else in the interest of democracy. That is Jega for you. He is not like all these political jobbers who will not be able to do the right thing when given national assignments.

    But the huge military presence in Ekiti election was repeated in Osun State, what is your take on this?

    I think Mr. President was misinformed into deploying so much military personnel into Osun for the election. We heard him explaining that it was necessary to forestall violence; who are those who wanted to cause violence here in Osun? They said there were some area boys, who are they? There was nothing like that in Osun. The people wanted to vote. They wanted to be able to elect their own leaders. That was all. Nobody wanted to fight or burn houses. We don’t play politics like that in Osun State. The election proved that to the whole world. I have no problem with Mr. President’s decision to protect the people but my problem is with those who gave him a wrong impression. Did you see where any of those alleged boys was arrested before, during and even after the election? Jonathan was misled and I am sure he knows better now. He acted like a leader. No leader will take security for granted.

    But there were allegations that the APC under Governor Aregbesola wanted to unleash terror on the state?

    Well, I just told you what happened. It is left for you to believe me or not. I live here in Osogbo. For the past three years of Aregbesola as governor, he has been preaching peace. He is not the type of politician who will destroy because he wants power. Remember, when Aregbesola came into governance, he introduced the Omoluabi slogan. And when Omisore started campaigning, he said “Eniyan Iyi”, meaning Osun people are gentlemen. So, if both parties claimed to be gentlemen, where then were we expecting the thuggery and violence.

    In spite of all that, Aregbesola was re-elected. Will you say the result reflected the wishes of the people of Osun?

    Look, let me tell you this, I don’t belong to any of the political parties. I am not a politician. I’m an elder statesman. So, I am not supporting any of the parties but the result reflected the wishes of those who didn’t sell their conscience. In every election, people will vote differently, but I want to tell you that Aregbesola should have gotten more votes if people were not induced with money and other things. A lot of people sold their conscience. It was a tough election but the people of Osun made up their mind to return Aregbesola because of his performance in office. A lot of people were also disenfranchised in many ways. Aregbesola reaped where he had sown. He came into Osun to transform the state. And he did that for four years. There is no single family in Osun that has not benefitted from his government. Quote me anywhere. So when election came and he said he wanted another term, everybody agreed. That is the basis for his victory over the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Iyiola Omisore. This is the reason why Osun people didn’t vote for PDP and Omisore.

    With this victory, Aregbesola made history as the first person to get re-elected by Osun people as governor. What do you make of this as someone who has been around since the creation of the state?

    Well, Osun people are educated and enlightened. They are no fools. Aregbesola got reelection because he performed. Osun people are watching every politician. Whatever you do, they will pay you back. Oyinlola in his first two years, people loved him because he was focused and performing. But when he lost focus, the people turned their back on him. If he had continued being focused, the people would vote for him. He lost popularity and he didn’t get the votes of the people. It all depends on the performance of the person. If you do well, they will return you, if you don’t, they will show you the way out.

    You said you are not a politician. What then is your involvement in the politics of the state?

    I am an indigene of Osun State and I have huge investments here. It is my notion that there must be peace and good governance in the state. It is my view right from the era of the June 12 crisis that there must be peace in every state capital and the federal capital territory and Lagos for business to thrive in Nigeria. So, my involvement is to ensure peace and good governance. I am not a party man. But I always support good governments. My support for Aregbesola is because of his good initiative that is helping the state and securing my investments. Good and bad things happen in the capitals first before moving to other parts of the state or country. I am a poultry farmer. I need peace for my workers and others to perform. I know what I lost during the June 12 crisis when there was curfew in the town. Before then, I never wanted to do anything with politicians. But that incident taught me to be an underground player in politics. I became an intermediary so as to ensure peace and protect my investments.

    But there was this rumor of your arrest during the election. What actually happened?

    Well, the issue to me is not anything big. The rumour emanated from one of the major aspirants who mistakenly sent the message to my own phone too. I don’t deserve such treatment from anyone, talk less from this person. He didn’t know my number was part of the ones he sent the thing to. I have assisted this person on occasions monetarily and with influence. It is sad that he did that. When the youths came here to say I must refute the story, I decided to move round the city, I didn’t see anybody to say you are wanted. On Friday, I prayed in the mosque. I was not arrested. On Election Day proper, I trekked 13km to go and vote. I was not molested in any way. Maybe that was the plan of this candidate to embarrass me. We thank God it didn’t happen. People around here wanted to use the federal might to intimidate their political opponents which is against the policies of this Jonathan administration. I was not arrested. And I thank the people of Osun State for their concern when they heard the rumour.

    There were talks about the agricultural project your company is into with the Osun State Government. What is it really about?

    The project is a Public Private Participation (PPP) effort put together by three partners, namely Osun State Government, TUNS Farms and Poultry Association of Nigeria, Osun State chapter. The poultry association represents the farmers in the project. The government provided money for feeds that the chicks will eat. TUNS Farm provided day-old chicks. Then the farmers are to get the poultry farms. The government appointed scheme manager whose role is to access the farmers to be sure they have ready infrastructures. It is the scheme manager who will write to TUNS farm to release chicks and feeds to the farmers. The farms are inspected daily by the scheme manager. When the birds are ready for calling, the scheme manager gathers them all for the ready markets.

    We have seen a situation where farmers made a profit of about N240 million. One farmer made about N15million profit since we started. That is to tell you the rate of the success of the project. The question I ask is if there has been any agricultural project that has been this successful since the creation of Osun? This is a project that has made TUNS the number two producer of broiler meat in Nigeria. And the government investment is being paid back. As we speak, the government has withdrawn about fifty percent of its investment into the project. So, in the next one or two years now, the government will not have a kobo in this scheme. The government protected its investment by employing a scheme manager. So, it is a hugely successful project that has created about 7,000 jobs both direct and indirect. We have about 300 farms involved in this project.

    And where is the market for this huge monthly production?

    There are ready markets for the birds when they are grown. That is why the school feeding project, O’meal came up. The school children project takes about 10 percent of the birds monthly. The remaining 90 percent is sold with about 40 percent going to KFC nationwide. Another 30 percent goes to Shoprite while the balance goes to the oil companies across the country. The ready market is made possible by the certification of TUNS Farm by international audit. The Osun State Government is benefitting hugely in the area of improved IGR. The farmers are paying special taxes to the coffers of the government as a result of this project.

    The government also provided money to farmers to start the programme. It is a brilliant effort by Ogbeni and he found ready partners in us. We had to give the guarantee. Today, the Poultry Association of Osun is the richest in the country. Aregbesola has been able to help the farmers and at the same time, protect government money. This project has made about 300 people millionaires. This is one project that you can see its product everywhere. It is not like other projects that cannot be felt by the people.

    You were a leading socialite in Lagos before now. What informed your decision to relocate to Osogbo?

    Yorubas say it is when you are young that you can dance ‘palongo’. I am an elder now. The body also requires that I go easy. It was in those days one can go from King Sunny Ade’s party to Sikiru Ayinde Barrister’s show and end up at Ebenezer Obey’s club. I am now more at home with the people of my community. It is also important that one should familiarise with his people. This is one of the reasons the people love Aregbesola. He is a grassroots person. He is a friend of everybody. Go out there in the street and you will see why he won the last election.

    You are the Asiwaju Musulumi of Nigeria. You recently lost the Aare Musulumi Alao Arisekola. How would you remember him?

    That was one man who touched my life in many ways. Whatever lifestyle I am leading today, I learnt from him. He is an exemplary man who would never disagree with anybody whatever the case may be. He is one man who preaches peace and unity. His leadership of the Muslims in the South-West was God sent and a lot of us learnt from him. He is one man who used his resources to support Islam and humanity immensely. I really felt bad about his death because I related very closely with him. I learnt a lot from him and I will always remember him.

  • 2015 Elections and the rest of us

    SIR: I watched with nostalgia how the elections of Ekiti and Osun were fought and lost, the accusations and counter accusations that characterized the elections. It was also very exciting reading the myriad of analysis on what transpired during the election and of course, several words were added to our political lexicon particularly the word  stomachstructure which can been defined as the art of seducing voters with consumables particularly food items in order to secure their votes and support.

    The elections have been fought and won but there are vital lessons we must extract from our recent democratic experience so that we can progress as a nation. I will try to extract a few lessons I want Nigerians to reflect on as we approach the 2015 general elections.

    Electorates have tremendous power to determine who leads them. This ordinary should be a no-brainer but our collective psyche had been bastardised in recent times by ballot box snatching, multiple thumb printing and other electoral malpractices by politicians and their cronies. The people of Ekiti and Osun states voted differently based on their perception of the candidates in the face of intimidation, harassments and high level politicking.

    The elections in Ekiti and Osun also taught us a critical lesson that politicians should bond with their people and listen to their aspirations and yearnings. I believe that politicians should listen to the voice of their people all the time and act accordingly based on the feedback from the people except on rare occasions when leaders have to take some decisive actions which may not be popular with their people but will be in the best interest of the country and their people in the long run.

    For instance, I believe that the now aborted competency test in Ekiti and Edo state was a step in the right direction by the two chief executives of the two states; it is unfortunate that they had to cancel the test for political expediency. On a cursory appraisal of the suspension of the test by the governors, one may be tempted to say that they were correct to have bowed to the wishes of their people. However, deep thinkers will agree with me that we missed a chance to have an improved educational sector. If the governors had been allowed to carry out the test, such tests would probably have been extended to the health sector and other critical sectors of the economy.

    We missed a rare privilege of long term progress by stampeding those leaders! The public outcry and public pressure on well thought out policies and subsequent reversals by successive government will do us more harm than good in the long run. That is not to say that all the actions of governments at all levels are to be accepted. For instance, I threw my weight behind the clamour for the reduction of LASU fees and I was extremely happy when the new fee regime was cancelled .This is because I believe that university education should not be the exclusive preserve of a privileged few since governments at various levels have not been able to provide enough safety nets to protect the weak and vulnerable in our society. What the Lagos state government needs to do is to fund its institutions more and ensure a more judicious use of the resources allocated to the educational sector.

    • Ireti Ishola,

    Lagos

     

  • Osun APC petitions INEC over Ife results

    Osun APC petitions INEC over Ife results

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the results from eight local government areas in the governorship election.

    Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Environmental Matters, Bola Ilori, broke the news at the weekend in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

    He said: “We have written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) about the manipulation of votes by the PDP in the four wards of the Ife South Local Government Area. In all, the APC is contesting results of eight council areas because of what happened during the election in these areas. So, people should not be surprised that votes counted for the PDP would be deducted.”

    Ilori said it was clear to the voters that Omisore wanted power not in the public interest but to serve his selfish and inordinate ambition.

    He said: “People of Osun are not fools. They know Omisore was pretending to love them while his heart was far away from the state. If Omisore is accusing the administration of capital flight, the people know who their friend is and who is boosting the economy of the state and who is doing the opposite. All the policies and programmes of the Aregbesola administration have brought about a multiplier effects that significantly reflect on the quality of lives of the residents.”

    Ilori said the PDP would be surprised that some of the votes counted for Omisore would be deducted at the conclusion of the tribunal sitting.

  • Osun raises 54,000 oil palm seedlings for plantation regeneration

    Osun raises 54,000 oil palm seedlings for plantation regeneration

    Osun Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security Mr Wale Adedoyin has said the government has raised 54,750 improved oil palm seedlings to replace ageing palm trees.

    Adedoyin spoke at Ojere farm settlement in Ife North Local Government Area at the weekend

    The commissioner said the distribution was a component of government’s Semi Wild Groove Yield Enhancement Scheme.

    He said the programme was borne out of the government’s commitment to the production of food in abundance.

    He promised that the government would ensure the provision and distribution of free, unadulterated oil palm seedlings to farmers in the state.

    He said the government raised 54,750 improved oil palm seedlings spread in seven nurseries in which 41,544 was the establishment count to replace ageing oil palm trees.

    Adedoyin enjoined oil palm farmers at the Ojere axis, the direct beneficiaries of the pilot scheme, to use seedlings to regenerate their plantations.

    Mr Seyi Adegbembo, Project Manager of Tree Crops in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, charged farmers to make the best use of the agricultural farm inputs.

    Mr Adejumo Anthony, a beneficiary, who spoke on behalf of the farmers, described the occasion as an omen of the good things that would happen in the agricultural sector.

    Adejumo described the regeneration of oil plantations as a wise investment for the state.

  • I saw hell on the eve of Osun poll—Isiaka Adeleke

    I saw hell on the eve of Osun poll—Isiaka Adeleke

    The camp of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was jolted when former Osun State governor, Alhaji Isaka Adeleke, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) before the recently concluded governorship election in Osun State. Among other issues, he tells PAUL UKPABIO why he took the critical decision that shattered whatever hope the PDP had to snatch the state from the APC.

    I would start by congratulating you on the victory of the APC in the recent governorship election in Osun State. What does it portend for the party?

    I also want to start by congratulating myself and the entire people of Osun State for standing by their votes and democratic principles in spite of all that transpired before the election. It shows that the people of this country still believe in democracy regardless of what others say.

    Now that the APC has won the election in Osun, what role do you think the other political parties have to play in the governance of the state?

    There are still some reasonable people in the other parties, especially the PDP. There are also reasonable people in Labour Party, the breakaway party of the PDP. I must confess to you that most of them will be coming back to the APC. But the leadership of the PDP as constituted in Osun State is very unreasonable. So, I don’t expect anything good from them.

    But there are others like the elder statesman, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, Olu Alibi, Ebenezer Babatope and former woman minister, Erelu Obada; these ones are very reasonable people. They will cooperate with this government because they know that we don’t have any other state than Osun. So whoever is in the saddle is immaterial. The election has been won and lost. To me, there is no victor and there is no vanquished. Everybody should join hands together with the person that won to move the state forward.

    Why did it take you so long to realise that you were in the wrong party?

    I did not say I was in the wrong party. The day I was crossing over, I said the PDP was not yet that bad but the leadership of the party in Osun State was what I could not comprehend. I said we still had nice people in the PDP. I cannot condemn the PDP because I rose on the platform of that party to become a senator and also play different roles as Chairman, Governing Council of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council and the Pro-Chancellor, Chairman, Governing Council of the University of Calabar.

    Having enjoyed all that on the platform of that party, I cannot say now that the party is totally bad. But some individuals that hijacked the leadership of the party in the state are criminals. Honestly, I cannot work with them. If I had remained in that party as a core party man, I would be forced to work for them and for the success of that party, and I don’t want criminals again in Government House at all.

    Some people insinuated that you were bought over by the APC?

    There was nothing like that. My defection was based purely on principle. If I wanted anything, I could as well have got it while in the PDP. If I had stayed with the PDP, with those people that have hijacked the party in the state, definitely, they would have won and I’ll become this and that. We don’t want such characters in Government House. I am satisfied. I worked relentlessly and tirelessly for the success of the party and ensured that those individuals did not get to the Government House.

    We also learnt that your constituency voted massively. What do you think they deserve for their effort?

    That was not the first time Ede people would vote very well. And when you talk about my constituency, it is not limited to Ede people. The federal constituency consists of four local government areas which are solidly behind me in every election. That was not the first time. My journey into politics started way back in the late 80s and early 90s and they have been supportive and I have been giving back too. That is why any time I say let’s move, they move with me. We moved from APP to PDP and then to APC. If election comes tomorrow, we are going to sweep the whole thing.

    I have always tried to give back to them; not only my constituency but the whole state. I have done a lot in terms of scholarship, empowerment, employment, establishment of factories where people are gainfully employed. And now, we have Adeleke University. A lot of people are working there. We have established banks, First Merchant Bank, which became Unity Bank, and so on and so forth. We are doing a lot for the people in the area because of the support they are giving us. As we give, they give back.

    Governor Rauf Aregbesola is in for a second term. What are your expectations?

    I describe Aregbesola as a man in a hurry to develop Osun State. He was doing a lot in terms of infrastructure and that was what we needed. But Osun is not Lagos. If you are doing that in Lagos, everybody will be happy because nobody cares about any other thing than provision of good roads, electricity, water, security and an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. That is Lagos. But in an agrarian places like Osun and Ekiti, if you are doing that without looking at the human development angle, they will say you have not done anything. They won’t even see what you have done. So, we have to do this, to support him to finish up what he has started.

    When he started, the revenue base was so high. He had a lot of money to play with. That was why he embarked on all those projects. The roads and the schools he built were so fantastic. They were designed like elementary schools in the U.S. When we were in college there, everything was enclosed; all the facilities were there. He has provided school buses. They have lunch out there in the school and they don’t have to go out. That is fantastic. If he can complete that throughout the state, he will be one of the primus inter pares of such in the country. So, we have to give him that support and I know very well he will do it.

    Are you content with being a kingmaker or you still intend to contest political positions in the future?

    I am still going to run for an office in 2015. But that will be at the federal level. I have always said I would love to go back to the Senate. I enjoyed the Senate and I will love to go back there to help in making laws.

    How do you think the Senate has fared?

    We are growing with time. Right now, I have a lot of bills that are hanging because I didn’t go back. There are certain bills I wanted to introduce. I am a criminologist. I have a master’s degree in Criminal Justice and there are certain bills I will be introducing to the country to improve on the criminal justice continuum. I introduced the issue of plea bargaining, but a lot of people don’t understand what plea bargaining is. It wasn’t that anybody that steals money would have to plea bargain. Plea bargaining is a tool that we use to detect crime and nip that crime in the bud.

    For example, if three of you conspired to commit a crime and one of you is caught and is told that this crime you have committed, if convicted, you are going to jail for 10 years. But if you plea bargain and you let us get the other two, we can sentence you to two years. That is plea bargaining. You do that in court. It makes you to detect the crime, arrest the criminals and all that. Those are the issues of plea bargaining.

    We also have what is called probation. Our prisons are congested. Our criminal justice system is punitive rather than correctional. It is not every crime that you sentence people to prison. Sometimes, you give them a suspended sentence. Put them on probation for certain crimes. That is what probation is. Let them serve the sentence within the community. They do community service. If you put everybody in the prisons, it criminalises the individuals. There are hardened criminals in there that would teach somebody who ordinarily wouldn’t have been a criminal to become a hardened criminal, especially in an impoverished society like ours.

    Then again, we have what we call ‘parole’, which is where you serve the rest of your sentence within the society. If you are sentenced to a 10-year period, there is something we call good time; one day off upon your good behaviour. It makes that person to be of good behaviour in the prisons. The prison should be a place just like outside the society.

    We have schools. We have had people who obtained Ph.D from the prison walls and they are good people today. So if you behave yourself every day and you are sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, for every day you stay in prison and behave well, they take a day off. At the end of the day, they take off five years or two and a half years during that period.

    We introduced certain reforms in the prison system, like schools where people can teach. You study for bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and so on. Those are some of the bills I want to introduce into the criminal justice system, among many others that are still in the Senate. I want to pursue it when I get there.

    Let us take a look at the militarisation of elections. It happened in Ekiti and Osun states. The APC cried out when it happened in Ekiti and Osun states, but some people believe it helped to make the elections free and fair. What is your take on it?

    What I witnessed in Osun a week to the election was hell. I thought the SSS are a secret service. They are not to be seen. They are supposed to detect crimes and hand over criminals to the police. But these guys have turned themselves into thugs. The first day they came, I saw them with masks, standing atop their vehicles and shooting sporadically in the air to scare people. What was that intended to achieve?

    Then the police were not doing much but the soldiers too joined. We have a barracks in Ede. I was held in solitary confinement after the Tuesday mega rally at Ede a couple of days to the election.

    The soldiers from Ede barracks were very friendly. When we were doing our campaigns within Ede, they were passing peacefully and we were waving at one another. There was no such thing as harassment. I believe they have this special killer squad that came in to harass, intimidate, arrest and kill. I am saying this because I was a victim.

    Although I had heard about it, but a day preceding the election, I moved from my house to my mother’s house because of its proximity to where my voting unit was. At 1.45 am, we were woken from our sleep with sporadic gunshots outside the gate of my mother’s house with shouts of, ‘open the door.’ They were shouting and banging the gate. I was upstairs. I looked through the window and saw hooded men in black dresses. I could see them because there was light. Some of them were in camouflage. I said they could be armed robbers or assassins. Fortunately, I had my security people with me. I now shouted that they should not open the door because we didn’t know who they were. Even if they were policemen, do you execute warrants at 1.45 am for God’s sake?

    There was exchange of gun fire between them and my security men because I didn’t know who they were. After about 30 minutes, they left. The local hunters all converged and I told everyone to remain calm till the morning when we would report the issue at the police station. I called the election DPO because they had transferred so many people. He came to me. I called the DSS guy and he also came. He said they were there and they would protect us till morning. And they did. Till the morning, nothing happened again. I walked to my unit. After accreditation, while waiting to vote, about nine lorry loads of soldiers, SSS men and all kinds of paramilitary agents with AK 47 surrounded the whole place. I knew full well that it was me they were looking for, but I packed my books and walked through them and left. They didn’t see me.

    Why did you think they were after you?

    I don’t know. You should ask Omisore. I am coming to that. I was in the third house upstairs looking at them. They now were asking my friends, ‘Where is Adeleke? The guy answered, ‘I have not seen him since yesterday. I am here just to cast my vote.’ And they said, ‘Your best friend, you have not seen him since yesterday? You are lying.’ They picked him up and threw him in the car. There was somebody who was wearing a hood inside a black van, pointing out the people they would go to. They picked up all my security people. They said, ‘You were the ones shooting at us yesterday.’ We saw an SSS guy slap a uniformed police officer. They took all of them away when they couldn’t see me after about 30 minutes.

    But the people insisted on voting. They queued up and were voting. They didn’t even mind them. A lot of people told me after that incident that some people who had wanted to vote for the PDP resolved to cast their vote for APC because of what happened on that day. That is why I said the people stood by democracy. What is this? Is this how we will continue with voting? This has to stop. They voted APC. Now, when they left the voting place, they carried all those people along with them. They went to my house. When they got to my house, they saw CCTV cameras everywhere and they started breaking them. They were so crazy. All the posters of Aregbesola and the APC outside were torn.

    Meanwhile, the people they had arrested were still in the vehicle with them. Then they banged on the gate but there was nobody because everyone had gone out to vote. The few people remaining might not have heard because the gate to my main house is far. They now scaled the fence, entered the house and opened the gate for others to come in. They got inside and started breaking down doors. The only door they did not break down was that of my bedroom because they didn’t get there.

    I have a friend who came from Ekiti State. The guy is the younger brother to the deputy governor of Ekiti State. Immediately they saw him, they said: “You again here?’ The same squad had arrested him on the day of the Ekiti election and prevented him from voting because he is a younger brother to the deputy governor of Ekiti State. The Major that led them that day was the same person in Osun. He asked him what he was doing in Osun. He replied that he came to visit me. He was told that he could not go and vote because he is not registered in Osun. That was why I said probably the government has a special killer squad.

    They did not stop there. They ransacked everywhere. Unfortunately for them, somebody was working on the CCTV. I could have recorded everything but it wasn’t on. They left the house and took those people to the SSS office and told everybody to lie down. And do you know what they were telling them? That Jonathan wanted something and one stupid Adeleke was telling them not to do it. Who is he? How much does he have? They said that they were given N200 million to waste anybody they could waste. I won’t give you their names now because I am going to go to court. They included a Major, a Brigadier-General and a Captain. The Captain was the only one who did not have a name tag. In the course of the situation, they said a call came in and the Brigadier General said, ‘Otunba, Otunba, we could not get him.’

    Who is Otunba? These are criminals. If you didn’t see it when they pointed a gun at me when I was in the PDP, what about this one? Honestly, it is becoming frightening and very dangerous. I have written a petition. I am waiting to see if President Goodluck Jonathan is going to institute a probe about all these things because I want to believe that he doesn’t know about it. It is very likely that these people are doing this behind his back. It is very likely that these people are not sent by government, because if the government sent people to maintain the peace, why arrest people indiscriminately? I was told that about 300 people have been clamped in detention at the SSS office in Osogbo, all from Ede Local Government. I also learnt that they were brought there in the vehicle of the deputy candidate of the PDP by his driver. All they needed to do was point at you and they would pick you up.

    How long are we going to continue like that? This is a new dimension to it. If it is not stopped, any election that is coming up, people will employ self-help. If they decide to be lawless, people will decide to be lawless too. I want to believe that Jonathan is not aware of it, and I want to appeal that they should institute a high probe panel to investigate all these things and whoever is involved should be punished to serve as a deterrent to others.

    There are reports to the effect that Omisore has not conceded victory to the APC, even though the PDP has reacted differently…

    Omisore has the right to challenge the result of the election if he so desires. But it is my hope that all the materials used for the election would be kept and not tampered with, because they can go to any length to tamper with the result of the election because they tried it. I know full well from my own account. That was why the announcement of the results from Ife area was delayed. We won in two of those areas but they went and tampered with the results. But then, they couldn’t go more than were accredited. So, they couldn’t go further. We still won with about a hundred and something thousand. I know we defeated them but I don’t know what the margin is. We will make sure that all the electoral materials are kept.

    What was your relationship with Omisore like before you defected to APC?

    When we were in the Senate, my relationship with Omisore was cordial. He wanted to be governor and I wanted to go back to the Senate. I wasn’t supporting him. I told him that I could not support him. I know him. I was supporting some other persons and they were holding meetings in my house, and he knew it. He even came to beg me at a time but I said, ‘Young man, I am sorry.’

    You don’t look your age at all. What has been the secret?

    I will be 60 in a couple of months. I play tennis and I exercise a lot. These are good for me.

    What do you foresee about 2015?

    I want to see an internal democracy that would be acceptable to all at least to start from 2015. The PDP, in the Electoral Act as amended in 2010, states that there are only two ways by which you can conduct primaries, direct and indirect. I believe the PDP conducted their primaries indirectly. By that, they used delegates. But direct primaries is where all card carrying members of the party vote for a candidate of their choice in the primary election. Any one you take is okay as long as it falls within the ambit of the law. I want to see that happen rather than consensus. Even if it is by consensus, it must be by everybody. If one person says no, there is no more a consensus amongst the contestants. I want to see the elections free fair and to a large extent credible.

    The election in Osun, to a large extent, was very free and fair. But can we say it was credible? It wasn’t credible because the processes leading to that election were fraught with irregularities by the military. A lot of people were scared. A lot of people were disenfranchised, arrested, humiliated, and so on. If we remove that, what transpired on the election day could be described as very peaceful, free and fair.

    So, it will be good if we can prevent soldiers from usurping the duties of the police. A soldier is not even supposed to be seen on the road. When we were growing up, we were not seeing soldiers. Today, soldiers are everywhere. Instead of going to Chibok, they are roaming around, harassing people on election day. The SSS are not supposed to be seen, but today they are wearing uniform and mask. How can you go to peoples’ homes at 2 am, shooting in the air and expecting the person to keep quiet, and you come over to take that person to do whatever you want? If they are going to execute a warrant, no magistrate will issue a warrant after 6 pm.

    Once it is dark, you cannot execute a warrant even if it is for a criminal. As a criminologist, I am aware of situations where you don’t need a warrant to arrest or search anywhere. We call it warrantless searches and seizures, such as during hot pursuit. You are in a car and a peace officer has every reasonable cause to believe that criminal activities are afoot, he can pursue and arrest you without warrant. When he has every cause to believe that the evidence he is seeking in your house may be tainted, maybe you can flush it or something like that, among others.

    But when you are coming for an individual, you want to come and search his house, there is no way they will remove things that you will not know. All you need to do is to take the place out; if it is at night, put the paper on the ground, go for a warrant and move in the morning to execute your warrant. But people coming at night in black hoods? Anybody can wear a camouflage or put DSS badge and come in to do all kind of things. They could be assassins. They could be armed robbers. These are areas I see and pray that we should remove from electioneering. I’m not saying we should not bring security people, but we don’t need soldiers.