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Tag: Oyo

  • Buhari leads APC’s battle for Lagos, Ekiti, Oyo, others

    Buhari leads APC’s battle for Lagos, Ekiti, Oyo, others

    President-elect for Imo, Rivers, others

    President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has a packed schedule this week. He is leading the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaigns in some “battleground” states to lend his popularity to the push by APC candidates.

    He is scheduled to visit Lagos, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Imo, Nasarawa and Benue states.

    Others on the programme are Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo and Adamawa, a source told The Nation last night.

    Ahead of his campaign trips, which will likely be in town hall format, Gen. Buhari has already called on Nigerians to vote APC candidates all the way.

    The president-elect will be in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on Tuesday. Governor Rochas Okorocha, who is seeking reelection on the platform of the APC, in a statement signed by his Media Adviser Sam Onwuemeodo, said Gen. Buhari will be given a “heroic” reception at the Heroes’ Square, where he will address residents.

    The governor, who held a thank-you rally in the state, to appreciate the people for their unalloyed support, noted that Imo people contributed significantly to the resounding victory.

    The governor urged the people to turn out  en masse to receive Gen. Buhari irrespective of their political affiliations, adding that “in the new emerging order, everybody will be carried along and people will not be discriminated against on grounds of their political leaning”.

    The Coalition for a Better Nigeria, in a statement at the weekend, said Gen. Buhari will visit the commercial capital on Wednesday and hold “a town hall meeting titled Change 2015”.

    It will be the 5th national discourse of the Coalition to review Nigeria’s political history and progressives as well as Nigeria’s march to freedom with the 2015 polls.

    Leaders of the party, including National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande and Senator Biyi Durojaiye, will be joined by Governors  Babatunde Fashola (Lagos) and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) for the meeting at the Airport Hotel in Ikeja, the state capital.

    “We expect some outings, possibly town hall meetings in some critically challening states but nothing has been finalised by way of programming,” spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council Mallam Garba Shehu said yesterday.

    Director of Organisation of  the APC Campaign Council Boss Mustapha said the full campaign programme will be out today.

    Mustapha, who said he was in his home state of Adamawa campaigning for governorship candidate Jubrilla Bindow, said: “You know Gen. Buhari is no longer a candidate but president-elect.

    “His programes are no longer completely in our hands. You know many countries are making contacts with him, among other engagements. By Monday, we will be able to give you a final programme.”

    Elections into the governorship seats will be held in 29 states. Ondo, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi, Osun and Bayelsa states are excluded.

  • Oyo candidates flex muscle over governorship poll

    Major governorship candidates in Oyo State yesterday boasted about winning the election.

    Governor Abiola Ajimobi is flying the flag of the All Progressives Congress (APC), his predecessor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, is the Labour Party (LP) candidate.

    Rashidi Ladoja is contesting on the platform of Accord and Teslim Folarin is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard bearer.

    Speaking in Ibadan, the state capital yesterday, the candidates expressed unusual confidence of coming tops in the election.

    Though the APC defeated other parties with a wide margin in the presidential and National Assembly elections on March 28, candidates of the defeated parties insisted that they were only beaten  not defeated.

    APC won the three senatorial seats and 12 of the 14 House of Representatives seats.

    The party also controls the House of Assembly with 18 out of 32 members.

    Opposition parties also believe that the governorship election would not go the way of the March 28 elections because, according to them, voters were carried away by the popularity of the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.

    In separate chats, Ajimobi, who spoke through the party’s State Chairman, Chief Akin Oke, said Oyo people have always chosen light by aligning with the progressives, adding that they also reconfirmed it by their massive votes for the APC in the March 28 elections.

    He said voters will, once again, show their preference for the transformation, reformation and the repositioning of the state being undertaken by his administration by voting for him and all APC candidates in the House of Assembly election.

    Ladoja, who spoke through the Director General of his campaign organisation, Adeolu Adeleke, said Accord remained undaunted, despite the result of the last election.

    He said: “We remain undaunted and psychologically stable with optimism to win the election.”

    Alao-Akala, who spoke through his spokesman, Oludare Ogunlana, said what the party suffered in the last election would be regained on Saturday.

    “Whatever we suffered, people are ready to respond with their votes on Saturday.

    “The way Gen. Buhari was voted for across the country is the way Alao-Akala would gain people’s votes across Oyo State on Saturday,” he said.

    The PDP State Publicity Secretary, Kehinde Salawu, was also optimistic that his party would win the elections.

    He said  the party had embarked on educating its  supporters on how to vote for only the PDP.

  • How Ajimobi led APC to victory in Oyo

    How Ajimobi led APC to victory in Oyo

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) went into last Saturday’s National Assembly elections with no senator in the Upper Legislative Chamber. It had three members in the House of Representatives. But, the table has turned. Correspondent BISI OLADELE examines how the party last weekend won the three seats in the Senate and 12 in the House of Representatives.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has cause to celebrate. It has resolved the crisis that engulfed it within one year to emerge winner in all categories in last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.

    When the party won the governorship election in 2011, it also produced two senators and five members of the House of Representatives, as well as 13 members of the state House of Assembly.

    But, just after one year in the saddle, the coalition that produced the victory began to crack due to the ambition of some of its leaders, who questioned Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s style of leadership.

    The power blocs were unwilling to shift ground. The governor equally stuck to his gun, saying that his leadership style is in the best interest of the state. The party tried to manage the crisis internally for one year. But, the bubble burst last year, when  two senators —- Ayo Adeseun (Oyo Central) and Femi Lanlehin (Oyo South) — defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Accord respectively.

    Two members of the House of Representatives —Hon. Kola Olabiyi (Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Iwajowa/Kajola Constituency) and Kamil Akinlabi (Oyo Constituency) decamped to Labour Party (LP) to team up with former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala who is currently the governorship candidate of the LP in the April 11 election.

    Aside opposition to Ajimobi’s style and vision, the aggrieved party chieftains criticised his urban renewal policy and noted that their political future was unsafe in an Ajimobi-led APC.

    Observers, politicians and others saw their departure as the APC’s death knell. This is bacause they were believed to have gone with their supporters and that the development may deplete the membership and support for the APC. This raised fears among political observers as the general elections approached. Having lost such number of leaders to other parties, it was widely believed that the state would fall from the hands of the APC.

    Fear also gripped APC leaders in other states, particularly within the Southwest region. They expressed serious concern about the future of the party in Oyo State. But, Ajimobi remained resolute and focused on the job on his hands.

    As the 2015 general elections approached, opposition parties and their candidates prepared for the polls with uncommon confidence, believing that the APC would suffer defeat at the polls.

    But, when the results of Saturday’s National Assembly elections started to trickle in, it became clear that the people of Oyo State appreciated what their governor has been doing. In a massive electoral victory, the APC did not just win the seats they initially had in 2011, its candidates trounced all those who defected from the party and even won additional seats at both chambers of the National Assembly.

    Besides, the APC returned the remaining three members of the House of Representatives with all its candidates defeating their rivals comfortably.

     

    Oyo Central

     

    The following are the factors that worked in the candidates’ favour in Oyo Central. The incumbent senator representing the district, Ayo Adeseun, hails from Ogbomoso. Two councils in the town — Surulere and Ogo-Oluwa — belong to the district. The remaining nine are in Oyo and Ibadan.

    The moment Adeseun decamped to the PDP last year, the seat became the agenda of Oyo Zone, which has not produced its occupant in the last 16 years. Realising the interest of the town, the APC quickly zoned the seat to the ancient town, which has four local governments. Hon. Monsurat Sunmonu, who is currently the Speaker of the House of Assembly, hails from Oyo. She picked the ticket during a keenly contested primary.

    With the APC already doing very well in two out of the five councils in Ibadan and its growing fortunes in Egbeda and Ona-Ara, Sunmonu’s chances were considered bright. The party’s soaring strength in Oluyole also helped a great deal.

    In addition, Ajimobi’s performance had increased the fortune of the APC in Ibadan generally. The governor also embarked on a tour of the 33 local governments towards the end of last year to explain his policies to the grassroots people and mobilise support for his administration. The tiring exercise paid off eventually, as the votes from the five councils in Ibadan helped Sunmonu to emerge as the new senator. This combines with her gender appeal. The result: APC 105, 378 votes, Accord 84, 675, PDP 44, 045, Labour 27, 490 and SDP 7, 362

     

    Oyo South

     

    The incumbent senator, Femi Lanlehin, was also defeated by Hon. Soji Akanbi, who hails from the same ward with the former in Ibadan North West Local Government.

    Except in 2007, when the PDP was believed to have rigged elections across Southwest, this district has always been represented by progressives.

    The incumbent also won the seat on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2011 before he decamped to the Accord Party. That was probably why the APC picked Akanbi, a traditionally progressive politician of no mean strength, to contend with his brother. Ibadan South West Local Government factor also played a part in the victory. Ibadan South West is the most populated local government in the state and this is the local council where Governor Ajimobi hails from.

    With Ajimobi’s performance, particularly in Ibadan, the population strength of Ibadan South West, the granting autonomy to a satellite campus of the state’s college of education in Lanlate, as well as granting the Eruwa satellite campus of the Polytechnic, Ibadan full autonomy, among others, it was easy for the APC candidates to coast to victory in the entire district. Lanlehin defeated Akanbi only in Ibadan North East where the Accord Party has been holding sway since 2011.

    Most people were also not impressed with the decision of Lanlehin to defect to Accord and his attempts to rubbish what Governor Ajimobi has been doing. Many observers believe that he should have waited for Ajimobi to complete his two terms before expressing interest in the governorship race in the state. In some quarters, his actions were viewed as betrayal and a display of discontentment, having defected then from the PDP to the defunct ACN to contest for the governorship ticket and eventually landed at the Senate.

    These factors, among others worked in favour of the APC candidate.

    The result: APC 147,583, Accord 93,256, PDP 47,152, LP 28,993 and SDP 11,54

     

    Oyo North

     

    This district presented perhaps the most shocking result in the election. The new senator, Hon. Fatai Buhari, hails from Ogbomoso South, one of the three councils in Ogbomoso that was merged with the 10 councils in Oke-Ogun area to make up the district.

    In spite of the fact that the serving senator, Hosea Agboola, hails from Oke-Ogun and that the LP candidate, Hon. Tajudeen Kareem, who is also from the zone, is a serving member of the House of Representatives, Buhari successfully built on the various developmental projects of the Ajimobi administration in Oke-Ogun to corner the votes from the zone. The developmental project of the Ajimobi administration in the zone include: the dualization of Iseyin Road, the granting autonomy to the Saki campus of the Polytechnic, Ibadan and the offering of several appointments to politicians from the zone, as well as the recruitment of 2,000 primary school teachers from among the people. This helped to catapulte the party to victory in nine of out of the 10 local governments in the zone.

    With this impressive result, the governor has ended up as the highest contributor to the success of the APC from Southwest. Consequently, with victory in the kitty, it is convincing to believe that Ajimobi is leading the APC to final victory on April 11, 2015.

  • Oyo opposition are paperweight, says APC

    Oyo opposition are paperweight, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has said the dismissal outing of opposition parties in the state has shown them as paperweight parties.

    The party, in a statement in Ibadan yesterday by its state Director of Publicity and Strategy, Olawale Sadare, thanked the people for keeping faith with the party as demonstrated by the victory in last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

    It added that the voting pattern of the last elections clearly showed their belief and support for the APC-led administration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi as well as their political sophistication.

    “Besides, the outcome of the elections has shown that the people will never again fall for the bait of propaganda, deceit, falsehood, character assassination and reactionary politics for which the leading opposition parties’ candidates are known.

    “Now that the people of Oyo State have, again shown, their preference for the APC, we strongly advise the followers of Teslim Folarin (PDP), Rashidi Ladoja (Accord) and Adebayo Alao-Akala (LP) to review their stance and jump out of the turbulent ship in order not to sink with them.”

    The APC said the showing of the LP in some parts of Ogbomoso attests to the party’s position that the ex-governor is a local champion.

    “With the outcome of the election, Ladoja and his Accord Party should, by now, resign to fate that the people have finally rejected them.

    “Again, the people of Oyo State and supporters of the Accord should realise that it is not in their best interest to support the party which neither has root nor foundation capable of protecting their interest at the state and national levels,’’ it said.

    The party appealed to the people to embrace the broom revolution sweeping across the country, particularly in the Southwest, by supporting the APC and its candidate, Abiola Ajimobi, for the April 11 Governorship and House of Assembly elections.

  • APC produces three senators, 12 reps in Oyo

    Candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the three senatorial districts of Oyo State have been declared winners of Saturday’s National Assembly election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The APC’s presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, defeated his main rival, President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He polled 528,620 votes to Jonathan’s 303,376 votes.

    The APC candidate defeated the incumbent in 27 local governments; Jonathan won in Itesiwaju, Ogbomoso North, Ogbomoso South, Oriire, Surulere and Ogo-Oluwa councils.

    All the newly elected are first time senators. They defeated senators Femi Lanlehin (Accord), Hosea Agboola (PDP) and Ayo Adeseun (PDP).

    In Oyo Central Senatorial District, Mrs. Monsurat Sunmonu scored 105,378 to defeat Chief Bisi Ilaka of Accord, who polled 84,675 votes.

    Following are candidates of the PDP, Labour Party (LP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    In Oyo North, Fatai Buhari scored 104,056 to defeat his closest rival, Tajudeen Kareem (LP), who polled 75,469. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Accord candidates trailed them.

    In Oyo South, Soji Akanbi scored 147,583 to beat Lanlehin (Accord), who polled 93,256 votes. They were trailed by Mrs. Lanre Otiti (PDP), 47,152; Nurudeen Akinyo (LP), 28,993 and SDP candidate, 11,541.

    Only four serving members of the House of Representatives retained their seats. They are Abiodun Awoleye (APC), Saheed Fijabi (APC), Sunday Adepoju (APC) and Olusegun Odebunmi (PDP).

  • Buhari ahead in Oyo

    The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, is leading across Oyo State in the ongoing announcement of results of the election in the 33 local government areas of the state.

    He beat his closest rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Goodluck Jonathan, in the results of 14 out of 15 local governments so far announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state.

    Aside beating Jonathan in Ona-Ara, the local government of the PDP’s governorship candidate, Sen. Teslim Folarin, and Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Jumoke Akinjide by over 5,000 votes, Buhari is coasting to victory with similar wide gaps in 13 other councils announced.

    The councils are ATISBO, Saki East, Iwajowa, Oyo West, Ibarapa East, Atiba, Iddo, Oluyole and Kajola.

    Others are AFIJIO, Oorelope and Irepo and Iseyin. But Jonathan won with 400 votes in Itesiwaju Local Government, where the current senator representing Oyo North District, Hosea Agboola, hails from.

    Results of the senatorial election was yet to be announced as at press time.

  • Normalcy returns to Oyo

    Normalcy has returned to the ancient town of Oyo after Monday’s political violence, which claimed two lives.

    Hoodlums attacked the Ode-Remo open space, venue of the rally of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    Traders were seen displaying their goods as the popular Akesan market was opened for business.

    A burnt SDP vehicle was still in the middle of the road close to the Ode-Aremo open space.

    Besides Akesan, streets in Pakoyi, Awumaro and Oroki were still littered with broken bottles.

    It was gathered that one of the two persons killed was a primary one pupil, who was said to be returning from school. He was said to have been hit by a stray bullet.

    Residents have urged security agencies to embark on an intensive surveillance of Akesan and Owode motor garages.

  • Senate: Old warhorses test strength in Oyo

    Senate: Old warhorses test strength in Oyo

    All eyes appears to be on the April 11 governorship election in Oyo State, but from all indications, the battle for the three senatorial seats in the state would be not be less fierce and unpredictable, reports Remi Adelowo 

    The political climate in Oyo State has been turbo-charged in the last couple of weeks, no thanks to the heated campaign by the leading political parties all aiming at winning the hearts and souls of the electorate ahead the next general elections.

    While the major focus is on the governorship seat currently occupied by Senator Abiola Ajimobi of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the race into the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, has equally reached a feverish pace, with none of the major candidates leaving anything to chance.

    Without any prejudice to the other registered political parties fielding candidates for the Senate, it is incontestable that candidates of four parties-the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP) and the Accord Party (AP)-are, unarguably, the frontrunners for the three senatorial seats comprising of Oyo Central, Oyo South and Oyo North.

    Another factor that would make the race even more interesting is the quest for another term by the current occupiers of the seats, all of who are household names in the politics of the pacesetter state.

    The three senators are Olufemi Lanlehin of the Accord representing Oyo South; Ayoola Agboola popularly known as Halleluyah of the PDP and Ayoade Adeseun, also of the PDP, representing Oyo North and Central zones respectively.

    In the run-up to the primaries of the respective parties, Lanlehin and Adeseun had defected from the APC following irreconcilable differences with Governor Ajimobi.

    Would these men retain their seats or get swept off by new comers?

    Oyo Central

    The intense jostling for this seat currently held by Ayo Adeseun would, no doubt, be too close to call. The election in the district, which cuts across three major towns of Ibadan, Oyo and Ogbomoso, is between Adeseun, who hails from Ogbomoso; Speaker of the House of Assembly, Monsurat Sunmonu of the APC and Oyebisi Ilaka, the AP candidate, both of whom hail from Oyo town.

    The dark horse in the race is Comrade Olu Abiala, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), who is banking on the influence of his party’s governorship candidate, Adebayo Alao-Akala, to clinch the seat.

    Adeseun’s strength and weaknesses

    A former member of the House of Representatives where he held the Chairmanship of the powerful Committee on Appropriation, Adeseun is vying for a second term in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly.

    In 1999, he was a member of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and in 2003, he defected to the PDP before joining the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (now APC) on which platform he contested for the Senate in 2011.

    Very popular across the district, he is an experienced politician with a solid structure strong enough to deliver on Election Day.

    Beside his goodwill among his constituents, the lawmaker is also counting on his goodwill among constituents, support of the Presidency and his party’s governorship candidate in the state, Teslim Folarin, to retain his seat come March 28.

    But unlike his election in 2011, Adeseun may find it tougher this time around. Not only has party’s popularity decline in the state, his fall-out with Akala, who wields a larger than life influence in Ogbomoso, may also count against Adeseun when the chips are down.

    In Ogbomoso, his home town, three people are vying for both governorship and senatorial seats on the platforms of different parties. While Alao-Akala is vying under the LP platform, Hon. Fatai Buhari is the APC’s senatorial candidate for Oyo North. He is the third candidate from the town. Obviously, votes in the town will be divided across the three lines.

    Adeseun is not likely to pull any meaningful votes in Oyo, where Sunmonu and Ilaka hail from and the remaining two local governments in Ibadan.

    The senator would, however, count on the PDP’s strength in Ona-Ara, Oluyole and perhaps, Egeda local governments to get sizeable chunk of votes.

    Ilaka’s best chance

    A United Kingdom-trained tax consultant, Ilaka contested and lost to Adeseun in 2011. But the fortune of Accord has risen in the last two years in Oyo, making him a strong contender once again.

    The candidates fielded by Accord are mostly riding on the fame of Senator Rashidi Ladoja, who is well known in the state. With the possibility of getting reasonable votes in Oyo, Ilaka is also likely to enjoy Ladoja’s goodwill in some parts of Ibadan.

    Sunmonu, no pushover

    A former employee of the British Immigration Service, she returned to Nigeria in 2010 to join politics. She represents Oyo East/Oyo West Constituency in the House of Assembly.

    Described as a no nonsense politician, her tenure as Speaker has witnessed unprecedented peace in the House, judging by the vices that have assailed the parliament since 1999. This, no doubt, has boosted her popularity in the district and the entire state.

    The APC and Accord had zoned the senatorial slot to Oyo due to the fact that it is the only town in the district that has not produced a senator since 1999 and this factor, pundits argue, would work in the speaker’s favour.

    Her party, the APC also seems to be waxing stronger in two local governments in Ibadan among the five that make up the district in the capital city. They are Lagelu and Akinyele.

    With her grassroots style and gender appeal, Sunmonu stands a good chance in the race.

    The major hurdle she is likely to face is the opposition from Ilaka, whose popularity in Oyo has been on an upward swing in the last few months. It is, however, expected that with the alleged support of the paramount ruler of the town, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, to her aspiration, the speaker could still record a good showing in her hometown.

    Abiala stands an outside chance

    Abiala, a renowned labour unionist, is in partisan politics for the first time.

    An unlikely victory for the former Secretary of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Oyo State chapter, analysts say, would be a major upset. But that is almost an improbable task for the Ibadan-born former unionist.

    Oyo South

    Can Lanlehin win another term?

    The senator joined Accord from the APC earlier this year. An experienced politician, the distinguished senator hopes to win another term with his power of incumbency and popularity. He may also enjoy some goodwill in Ibadan because of the Ladoja factor, say political analysts.

    But on the other hand, Lanlehin, who rode to victory on the platform of the defunct CAN, may not find it smooth sailing this time. The political space is not only sharply polarised today, the APC-run administration in the state is working harder daily to win more voters.

    Another big minus against Lanlehin’s candidacy is what many perceive as his unprincipled political philosophy due to his flirtation with many political parties since the advent of democracy in 999.

    From being a member of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999, Lanlehin has crisscrossed across other political parties including PDP to ACN and now Accord.

    Adedeji Otiti

    The PDP candidate relies mostly on her party and gender appeal to win the election. The PDP candidate in the 2011 election, Kamorudeen Adedibu, was defeated by the incumbent, Lanlehin.

    A relative greenhorn in the politics of the state, her political inexperience and lack of a strong network may ultimately be her undoing at the polls.

     

    Soji Akanbi

    The APC candidate, Soji Akanbi, was a governorship aspirant in 2011.  Since he picked the APC ticket, he has been working to entrench himself within and outside the party across the senatorial district.

    A follower of the late Alhaji Lam Adesina, a former governor of the state, Akanbi is close to key players in the Lam Adesina political family.

    His party is an added advantage because it is popular in the district. But he must work very hard to defeat Lanlehin and also need to warm himself into the hearts of voters outside his immediate political camp.

    Nurudeen Akinyo

    Nurudeen Akinyo, who recently defected to the LP, is also new in Oyo politics.

    A former Special Adviser to the current governor, he hails from Ibadan, but that may not count much when the poll gets underway on the basis of his weak political structures and inexperience.

    Keen contest expected in Oyo North

    Hosea Agboola

    The incumbent Senator Hosea Agboola is, unarguably, the candidate to beat in this senatorial election.

    A grassroots politician who is well entrenched in the district, the power of incumbency may also count for him.

    He, however, faces a huge hurdle in his Oke-Ogun constituency, because the LP candidate, Hon. Tajudeen Abisodun Kareem, who represents Atibo/Saki East/West in the House of Representatives, is also a grassroots mobiliser.

    Both former political associates of Alao-Akala, Kareem however followed his boss to LP from the PDP.

    The major hurdle Agboola faces in the election is getting foothold in the three local governments in Ogbomoso, which Alao-Akala delivered for him in 2011.

    Fatai Buhari banking on APC appeal

    A former member of the House of Representatives, he is the immediate former Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs. He relies on his popularity and that of his party, the APC, in Oke-Ogun and Ogbomoso to win the election.

    But, Buhari will need to work extremely hard to win the three councils in Ogbomoso, where Alao-Akala also hails from. Sources also say he must go the extra length to garner enough votes in Oke-Ogun to win the election.

  • Stop harassing our members, Oyo APC warns PDP

    Stop harassing our members, Oyo APC warns PDP

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has warned against the illegal arrests and intimidation of its members by security agents on the orders of influential leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    In a statement by its Director of Publicity and Strategy, Olawale Sadare, yesterday,  the party condemned the frequent invitation and detention of some of its members for alleged vandalism of President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign billboards in parts of the state.

    “For about a month now, the Caretaker Chairman of Oyo West Local Government Area, Adesoji Ojoawo and other members of our party have been regular visitors to the police headquarters in Ibadan for allegedly destroying PDP billboards even after proving their innocence.

    “The council boss was again invited last Friday on the same issue and he has since been detained at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

    “It has been established that the billboard, in question, may have been damaged by heavy winds. These same security agents have failed to act on formal reports of damage done to billboards of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), Sen. Abiola Ajimobi and other APC candidates.

    “As part of their usual practice, some PDP elements in the state would not spare any effort to intimidate, harass and witch-hunt APC members perceived to be a thorn in their flesh.

    “Having failed to utilise the chances at its disposal in the last 16 years, the PDP is faced with the threat of monumental defeat at the polls.

    “Some of their notable members are there sponsoring violence against the opposition but there is nobody to checkmate them. On this note, we call on the PDP power mongers as well as their willing security agents to desist from further abuse of privilege and stop heating up the polity.”

  • ‘Let peace reign in Oyo’

    ‘Let peace reign in Oyo’

    The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has called for peace among governorship candidates.

    He urged parties that attended last week’s parley with the police to ensure absolute compliance with the accord signed and called for extension of the same to governorship candidates.

    By allowing governorship candidates to sign a peace pact, Makinde opined that it would ensure peaceful conduct of politicians and their supporters, adding that it will ultimately promote a peaceful and conducive environment that can guarantee free, fair credible elections.

    He also reiterated his call for an unbiased investigation by the police into the last week’s violence at Odinjo in Ibadan South-East Local Government Area.

    “The police findings should be made public and whoever is responsible should be punished. With 16 years of uninterrupted democracy, we should be seen to have moved away from certain tendencies.”