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Tag: Taiwo Olatunbosun

  • Alumni key to development of education, says Ekiti commissioner

    Alumni key to development of education, says Ekiti commissioner

    Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Taiwo Olatunbosun, has stressed the need for alumni to give back to their alma mater to support efforts of government in education.

    He spoke at the inauguration of a 25-member Central Planning Committee by Old Students Association of Igbemo Community Comprehensive High School, Igbemo-Ekiti, to pilot the programmes for the school’s 50th Anniversary tagged: ‘’The Great Re-Union”.

    Olatunbosun, who is also the chairman of the newly inaugurated Central Planning Committee, reiterated the commitment of the present administration in the state to the provision of conducive environment for teaching and learning in schools towards achieving a sustainable high qualitative and quantitative standard of education in the state.

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    He said the state government was ready to partner interested individuals, corporate organisations and multinationals, among others, to achieve the desired goals.

    Members of the Central Planning Committee include Alhaji Kola Bakare as secretary, Prof Afolabi Ojo as alternate chairman, Deacon Joseph Anifowose as publicity secretary, Mrs Becky Jegede (national treasurer), Otunba Sunday Akingbade (national secretary) in charge of mobilisation, among others.

  • Commissioner distributes food items, cash to Ekiti residents

    Commissioner distributes food items, cash to Ekiti residents

    Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Taiwo Olatunbosun, has distributed food items and cash to support residents of Igbemo community in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government.

    Olatunbosun, who distributed bags of rice and money to over 800 residents, said the gesture was to give back to the society in appreciation of the blessings of God and in tandem with the principles of Governor Biodun Oyebanji as a passionate leader and a gift from God to the state.

    Noting that the gesture would help put smiles on the faces of the people, especially during the festive season, Olatunbosun said the distribution of the food items and cash was aimed at supporting the general well-being of the people, particularly the youth.

    Read Also: Ekiti community laments lack of social amenities, seeks govt intervention

    He urged people to support the efforts of the state government in promoting sustainable development towards achieving a more fulfilling new year.

    Olatunbosun said given government’s proactive strategies and planned massive interventions across all sectors, 2025 would be more thriving for people in the state.  

    He said the state government would continue to execute life-transforming projects in agriculture, infrastructural development, education, health, human capital development as well as Micro, Medium and Small Scale enterprises, among others, as reflected in the 2025 budget.

  • APC to Fayose: Pay workers’ salaries or face protests

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), Ekiti State, has asked  Governor Peter Ayo Fayose to perish his thought of spending the N5.52bn he recently collected as allocation from the Federal Government on the payment of his phoney contractors.

    The party said the money should be spent to pay salaries of workers who have endured the pains unpaid salaries for six months.

    In a statement by  Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party said the constant skipping of workers’ salaries by Fayose had impacted negatively on the effectiveness of the workers and the economy of the state in general.

    According to Olatunbosun, payment of outstanding salaries should be a top priority  for Fayose, failure of which would result in total collapse of the state’s economy already in crisis over unpaid salaries for six months.

    “Workers in the employment of Ekiti State Government have passed through various stages of difficult times in the hands of the outgoing reckless and mindless Fayose-led government. Now they are seeing hell, starving seriously with many of them looking gaunt due to the pangs of hunger that have dealt with them.

    Read Also: Unpaid salaries: Ekiti workers give Fayose 14-day ultimatum

    “We are vehement in this demand to end workers’ plights. Enough is enough,” Olatunbosun said, adding that the only reason Fayose had not been paying salaries was because of financial impropriety and nothing more.

    He stresses that “this time around, we will compel him to see the welfare of workers as of topmost priority”.

    The APC spokesman said that if the rumour making rounds that Fayose intended to prioritise payment of his phoney contractors from the allocation he collected recently at the expense of the workers was true, then he should be ready to face not only the wrath of the workers, but also that of the APC.

    Olatunbosun added: “We are ready to seek all legal means possible to make sure he doesn’t waste the N5.52 billion money on his personal luxuries this time around.

    “Fayose is shameless and an unrepentant slave driver. We have said it time and time again that workers are not his priority.

    “His plan to pay the contractors is also not borne out of concern for those ones, but out of selfish interest, since he is expecting kickbacks in high percentages from them, whereas there will be nothing for him from the payment of workers’ salaries.”

    Olatunbosun said APC empathised with the workers who had been at the receiving end of Fayose’s wickedness all these while and pleaded with them to exercise a little more patience under his heavy yoke.

    Fayose, he said, was only acting in caretaker capacity and he owed it a duty to carry the incoming governor along in whatever actions he wanted to take that might affect the people until he finally hands over on October 16.

  • We didn’t buy votes to win Ekiti poll – APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has denied allegations of vote buying leveled against it by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola.

    The party said it was in possession of documentary and electronic evidences to prove that Governor Ayo Fayose, Olusola and PDP purchased to influence the outcome of last Saturday’s governorship election.

    The election was won by the APC candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who has since been declared governor-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The APC in a statement issued on Tuesday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, condemned the practice of vote-buying, saying such practice should be discouraged to allow democracy grow.

    The party also urged media houses to be fair in hearing all parties involved in the election, saying that selective treatment of issues is a denial of fair hearing for correct public judgment.

    The party praised people of the state for voting the party’s candidate, saying the gesture would ginger Fayemi to continue with programmes aimed at lifting Ekiti people out of poverty.

     

     

  • Fayose lied on cattle colony, says Fayemi

    The Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation has debunked claim by Governor Ayodele Fayose that the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Kayode Fayemi, plans to create cattle colonies across the state for cattle rearers.

    A statement by the Director of Media and Publicity, Wole Olujobi, said that Fayose’s fabrication is a rehash of an earlier online press statement traced to the governor’s media aides who have perfected the art of attributing unpopular positions or comments on public issues to innocent people.

    He said Fayemi is noted for the protection of life and property of his people as shown during his four years in the saddle of Ekiti State government.

    “Fayemi’s position on farmers-herders clash is focussed on protecting lives and property. More lives had been lost during the Fayose administration with his hare-brained policy than it ever happened under our administration.

    Read Also: Ekiti will be great under Fayemi, say aides

    “We ensured harmonious relationship between our indigenous and non-indigenous population and there was absolutely zero tolerance for farm destruction.

    “It is to be noted that all the resources provided for security forces by Fayemi’s administration to protect farming communities particularly in Iyemero and Oke Ako axis were summarily cancelled when Fayose took over the administration of Ekiti State.”

    Counselling Fayose to direct his energies to good governance and transparent conduct of government’s affairs, Olujobi said Fayemi never spoke with any reporter anywhere on the creation of cattle colonies.

    “The false story about Fayemi talking about creating cattle colonies in Ekiti State was first published online about a month ago and it was discovered that it was orchestrated by Fayose’s media aide, who published the story on a cloned website of an online publication.

    “Adebayo Jackson in his latest press statement is just doing a rehash of a dead news item in the most hackneyed manner that Fayose’s media men have been spreading falsehoods in the media space.

    “Fayose and his media handlers have developed notoriety for reckless lies and, unfortunately, they are not ashamed of their integrity being soiled in their unedifying enterprise.

    “Honourable people that cherish their integrity would not take seriously any news items  from Fayose and his men that seek to attribute  unpopular comments on public issues to his political opponents.

    “In the last one year, Fayose’s men have been in the habit of concocting press interviews and attribute unpopular comments and remarks in the interviews to innocent people that never spoke with any reporters.

    “They did it to Fayemi’s wife when they said the woman abused President Muhammadu Buhari for not supporting her husband.

    “They did it to APC State Chairman, Jide Awe, when they concocted an interview that Awe abused Pastor Adejare Adeboye of the Redeemed Church of God for visiting Fayose in the Government House.

    “They also did it to APC State Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, when Fayose’s media aide concocted a story that Olatunbosun addressed reporters where he purportedly said that Buhari’s wife was involved in Halliburton scandal and asking the woman to defend herself whereas these innocent people never addressed reporters anywhere.

    “It is a pity that the administration of our state is in the hands of the people who are a perfect match in integrity deficiency.

    “Fayose and his men have a background of infamy they are coming from and so we can understand their nuisance.

    “Fortunately, July 14 governorship election is around the corner when these  characters will be chased away from the life of Ekiti State to enable the people reclaim their land and restore their values that have been thrown into the mud by hustlers who have chosen Ekiti State as a trading post for the benefit of one man,” Olujobi said.

  • Ekiti 2018: APC slams Jonathan for warning Buhari not to rig poll

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has said former President Goodluck Jonathan was not fit to demand for the conduct of a credible governorship poll on July 14.

    The party said Jonathan lacked the moral justification to advise President Muhammadu Buhari to resist the temptation to deploy instruments of coercion in favour of his party (APC) at the governorship election.

    It also criticized Jonathan for describing the Ado-Ekiti flyover built by Governor Ayo Fayose at the whopping cost of N17b as the best of its type in Nigeria is a slap on the faces of Ekiti people and reasonable
    Nigerians in general.

    The former President was in Ado-Ekiti at the weekend to commission Fajuyi-Ojumose flyover in the state capital where he described the project as the best in Nigeria.

    The APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, in a statement on Monday accused Jonathan of affront, hypocrisy and dishonesty in his call on President Buhari to ensure free governorship election on July 14.

    Read Also: ’Tinubu’s panel saves APC from implosion’

    He said: “We had thought that Jonathan would behave like a true statesman and apologise to Ekiti people over the criminal taking over of government he supervised in 2014 when he unleashed soldiers, DSS and police to chase away opposition to the bush while several opposition leaders were illegally clamped into detention to disenfranchise the opposition party in the election that returned his stooge to power.

    “We condemn this unconscionable conduct by the former President who unleashed a horrendous electoral heist on Ekiti people, but who now turns around to demand for free and fair poll he could not give.

    “His endorsement of Fayose after he had put Ekiti State in N56b debts and workers owed between six and 10 months’ salary arrears while Ekiti State remained at where it was in 2014 in infrastructure development is also unfortunate.

    “Ekiti people will not be deceived and defrauded again after 2014 criminal takeover of government supervised by Jonathan, as Ekiti people and workers in particular live in hunger over unpaid salaries, and they have vowed to give their votes to our party with records of achievements and honesty in running a transparent government.”

    Olatunbosun alleged that the cost of the flyover which was awarded N5.9 billion was jerked up to N17 billion, an act he insisted Jonathan should condemn rather than praising.

    Olatunbosun added: “It is unfortunate and irresponsible to hide under partisanship to lend support for a clear case of fraud in the 800m one-lane flyover built on a dry land at a whopping cost of N17b as if the former President never supervised the construction of better flyovers at lower rates when he was president.

    “Even though Fayose at various times had claimed that the flyover at Fajuyi and Ojumose stretch of the state capital is 1.3km and 1.5km, the truth is that that stretch of road is 800m and it cannot stand the standard of a better flyover in Kuto, Abeokuta, Ogun State, built at a lower cost by Governor Ibikunle Amosun, but unfortunately the former President gave a stamp of approval to a clear case of fraud in a flyover that was first awarded at the cost of N5.9b without the Tenders Board’s approval but later reviewed upward single-handedly by the governor to its present cost of N17b.

    “It is also immoral to praise Fayose for diverting bailout, Paris Club refund and Budget Support Facility, all approved to pay workers’ salaries, to build a flyover at over-bloated cost of N17b awarded to Fayose’s friends’ companies outside the state after deceiving contractors of Ekiti origin during his campaigns to patronize them exclusively for all his projects.”

  • Ramadan: APC greets Ekiti Muslims

    The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has greeted Muslims for the Commencement of Ramadan 30 days fasting reminding them to pray for the State during the holy month.

    The party urged Muslims to make supplications to Allah to put an end to what it called “reign of terror and misrule in the state.”

    In a statement on Thursday by the Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, he called on Ekiti Muslims to remain holy and prayerful throughout the month of Ramadan as prescribed by the Holy Quran.

    Olatunbosun stated that this special spiritual cleansing period should be used to ask for divine intervention in the state as we commence the process of rescue mission.

    He urged them to pray for peace in the state as we move closer to the July 14th governorship election.

    Olatunbosun enjoyed Muslims to remember that Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam and as such, they must use the period of sober reflection to pray for Allah’s guidance in rebuilding Ekiti State, so that her sanity is restored.

    “Our Muslim brothers should besiege Allah to put an end to the reign of terror and misrule in our state and restore her back to her former peaceful state where people, both old and the young enjoy good governance and dividend of democracy,” Olatunbosun said.

  • Ekiti APC laments imminent collapse of Water Company

    Ekiti APC laments imminent collapse of Water Company

    …Says Fayose attitude driving investors away

     

    The All Progressives Congress ( APC ) in Ekiti State has expressed concern over the alleged refusal of Governor Ayo Fayose to sustain the state investment in Warm Springs Water Limited.

    The party rued the imminent collapse of the company which was floated by the Adeniyi Adebayo administration in partnership with United African Company (UAC) Limited. The company produces the popular Gossy Water.

    APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, in a statement on Thursday lamented that the policies of the Fayose administration has been driving investors away from the state.

    Olatunbosun said the imminent collapse of the company was an evidence Fayose’s neglect of government enterprises that have potentials to generate jobs for Ekiti people.

    It was learnt that the board of Warm Spring Waters Limited had given liquidation notice to stakeholders, citing failure of the company to pay its debts and other challenges.

    Olatunbosun cited the closure of GTB, Ecobank and Coca Cola over their alleged refusal to surrender their corporate social responsibility cash to Fayose as reasons why they were forced out of the state.

    Olatunbosun said the latest on the list of the shut down businesses would be Gossy Water to be liquidated at the extra ordinary general meeting of the company on February 6th, 2018.

    “One major reason for the winding up of the company is the unfavourable business environment such that there was no electricity supply to the company to run effectively for three years, including the non-patronage of the company’s product by Fayose’s administration because the company was the initiative of his predecessor.

  • ‎APC: Only court can stop Fayemi

    ‎APC: Only court can stop Fayemi

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has described Monday’s White Paper indicting former Governor Kayode Fayemi as “a demonstration of executive recklessness by Governor Ayo Fayose.”

    The party stressed that neither Fayose nor his government has any power to bar Fayemi or any other individual from holding public office.

    Fayose had set up a judicial commission of enquiry to probe Fayemi’s administration notably to unravel how Fayemi allegedly embezzled N852m SUBEB cash loan obtained from Access Bank.

    Fayemi kicked against the composition of the panel in court, sitting partisanship of members who were allegedly PDP members and some civil servants that served under Fayose’s authority, which made their membership suspect to a fair hearing.

    The Access Bank appeared before the panel to exonerate Fayemi, explaining that Fayemi never stole that but that it (the bank) took back the loan to its vault when the state government failed to firm up agreement on loan repayment.

    Nevertheless, the panel turned in its verdict holding Fayemi culpable and, subsequently, Fayose raised a panel to come up with a White Paper, which yesterday banned Fayemi and his Commissioner of Finance, Dapo Kolawole, from holding public offices for 10 years.

    But in a reaction by the Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party described both the panel and White Paper as a kangaroo stunt to nail Fayemi, saying the verdict would not stand in the face of illegality that went into the exercise.

    Olatunbosun argued that the Supreme Court has since settled it in law that only courts of law can stop any aspirant/candidate from running for any political office and not any administrative or judicial panel.

    Olatunbosun said: “All Nigerians know that Fayose is recklessly lawless and cannot survive in societies where the law works.

    “His so-called White Paper is not only laughable but also a disgrace to all Ekiti people home and abroad with the way that Fayose has taken ignorance, vendetta and debauchery to a ridiculous level because we knew all along that this is what Fayose wanted to do.

    “We had expected his Attorney General, if he knows his onions, to have advised him that only a competent court of law can bar Nigerians from holding public office under the Nigerian Constitution.

    “A situation where Fayose assembled PDP members and pliable civil servants as a panel with a strict directive to indict Fayemi at all costs and thereafter issue a White Paper banning him from holding public office cannot hold water in a society where the law works.

    “With the way he is conducting himself desperately to stop Fayemi from holding public office, we are convinced that Fayose is seriously going through a political haemorrhage  and therefore his resorting to political desperation and unconstitutional means to nail our leader and a serving Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by any means possible.

    “Neither Fayose nor Ekiti State Government has the power to bar or prevent Dr Fayemi or any other citizen from holding public office but a competent court of law. Such wishful thinking cannot stand judicial scrutiny and we advert Fayose and his pitiable undertakers to read the Supreme Court judgment and Atiku Abubakar in similar matter.”

    APC spokesman said that by his “so-called White Paper that cannot over-rule the Supreme Court judgment as a precedent, Fayose has demonstrated recklessness, lawlessness and display of executive rascality arising from his ignorance of the law, constitution and total disregard for the rule of law”.

    He added: “It is now glaring that despite Fayose’s empty boasts daily that Dr. Fayemi is a paperweight politician who is not popular at home , the governor’s latest action has proved that the reverse is the case, as this barbaric action to halt the political career of a shining Ekiti star has shown that Fayemi is in league of  nightmare Fayose has to contend with.

    “It is an irony that Fayose who is supposed to be banned from holding public office because of the plethora of criminal  and financial misappropriation cases hanging on his neck is the one unilaterally banning somebody who held public office as governor without any blemish and is currently holding that of a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and has performed excellently well as shown by the ‘Award of Public Excellence’ trophy bestowed on him by credible corporate organisations.

    “We expect someone occupying such an exalted position of a governor like Fayose to be properly briefed and educated on the limitations of his powers as the head of the executive arm of government primarily to formulate policy and implement laws rather than interpreting the law and worst still, assuming the position of a judge in a matter involving him as a party.

    “We are not going to lose any sleep over a biased political report by a panel of PDP members set up by a PDP governor for the purpose of framing up our leader as a way of settling political scores.

    “This is executive recklessness and political rascality taken too far by Fayose and his kangaroo panel. We wonder where he got the power to bar a leading member of the opposition in a democracy.

    “We wish to assure our party members and the good people of Ekiti State that the so-called White Paper recommendation by Fayose’s kangaroo panel is not worth more than the paper on which it is written and this shall be challenged in a court of law and we are confident that this shall be quashed because there is no legal precedent or basis for it in the history of our country.

    “We also plead with Nigerians to bear with Ekiti people in this moment of our governor’s lawlessness that has negative implication for the integrity of Ekiti people in choosing their leader.

    “We also wish to remind Fayose that his immunity will expire in October and must be prepared to resume trials on his many criminal cases, including those pending in various courts.”

  • Ekiti APC hails Buhari’s return from medical trip

    Ekiti APC hails Buhari’s return from medical trip

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has expressed delight over President Muhammadu Buhari’s successful medical trip to London.

    It said Buhari’s return has vindicated its claim that the President was not terminally ill as being portrayed in some quarters opposed to the anti-corruption war of the APC-led Federal Government.

    It also expressed appreciation to Nigerians who offered prayers and good will in the quick recovery of the President.

    In a press statement in Ado-Ekiti on Friday by Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party also apologised to Nigerians on the role played by Governor Ayodele Fayose in making himself the “prophet of death” while the President was abroad tending to his health.

    “We have been vindicated in our claim that Fayose was a mere attention-seeker in his relentless death wishes and several social media news items he promoted suggesting that President Buhari was terminally ill on death-bed.

    “With the President’s safe return after failure of Fayose’s evil wish primarily propelled by his serial crimes against the law of the nation, the governor has been put to shame with Buhari’s arrival hale and hearty on Friday.

    “We also commend the Presidency and the President for not dignifying Fayose with a response when he cynically requested Buhari to call him to prove that he was alive,” Olatunbosun said.