Osun PDP Archives — OsunDefender

Group Challenges Senator Adeleke To Debunk Alleged Certificates’ Scandal

By Nofisat Marindoti

Two days to the primary election of the Osun State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a social political group in the state, Renewal Youth Movement (RYM) has challenged one of the governorship aspirants, Senator Ademola Adeleke to publicly present his certificates within 24 hours or risked being dragged to court.

The group in a statement signed by two of their leaders, Muftau Adegoke and Rasheed Adegbenro and made available to reporters in Osogbo on Thursday, said they were taken aback by a report linking Senator Ademola Adeleke to certificate scandals.

According to them, the story tagged “The Man Jackson ‘Nurudeen’ Adeleke which has been streaming on the social media in the last 12 hours became a source of worry to them and that germane issues raised on the post must not be swept under the carpet.

“Senator Adeleke is not a private person. He is a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria representing Osun West Senatorial District and he is one of the 11 aspirants seeking the PDP ticket. We cannot therefore keep mute as if nothing was going on”

“The claim was that Senator Adeleke has no WAEC certificate and that he was recently held and later released by the State Security Services (SSS) in an attempt to use a pseudo person to help him write his WAEC examination at Alajue Grammar School, Ede. Is it true? Can that be the case?

“If he has WAEC certificate as he claimed, he must bring it out now. There is no shame in that. If not, why was he claiming that he possessed one?

“The detail given about the alleged criminal matter was too detailed to be ignored. We are of the firm opinion that Senator Adeleke cannot continue to be silence on these grave allegations. We also challenged security agencies in the state to speak out about this matter.

“Another thing was his claim that he studied Criminology at Jacksonville State University with official name of Jackson Ademola Adeleke. But the check at the school based in United States showed that he actually enrolled in the school n 1981 with major course ‘Law Enforcement’ and minor course ‘Political Science’ but was never awarded any certificate because he did not complete his studies.

“So, which certificate was Senator Adeleke displaying as the one obtained from Jacksonville State University? If his certificate was genuine, then, those who carried the fake news must be made to face the wrath of the law and if otherwise, the man in question has no reason to continue as the Senator not to talk of contesting the governorship election in our state.

“Our group cut across Osun State. We were part of the people that voted for him as the Senator. Therefore, we will not hesitate to drag Senator Adeleke to court except he publicly disclaim the said story and display his original certificate for all of us in the state to verify.”

The group also urged PDP leaders in the state not to hide anything about the issue.

“We know money may be moving around to hide facts. But this is now in the public domain. We will ensure that we unearth the truth about this matter.”

Osun 2018: Osun PDP Members Allege Ademola Adeleke Of Ineligibility

Five members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun state have questioned the eligibility of Senator Ademola Adeleke to contest the governorship ticket of the party for the September 22 gubernatorial election in the state.

The PDP members in a petition addressed to the National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, alleged that Adeleke is not eligible to contest the ticket of the party because he did not meet up with the constitutional requirement of a potential governor.

According to the PDP members, the Administrative Secretary of the party at the State Secretariat, Osogbo refused to sign the received copy of the petition upon reading it on Thursday when they went to submit it to the state chairman of the PDP, Hon Soji Adagunodo.

The PDP members alleged that Adeleke did not complete his secondary school education at Muslim Grammar School, Ede, questioning his credentials submitted to the PDP for the screening of the governorship aspirants.

The petition was signed by Ahmed Haruna and Jacob Fasanya of polling unit 002, Ward 4, Ede-South local government, Buraimo Ayinde of unit 9, ward 01 Ede-North, Oyebola Akanji of unit 6, ward 02, Ayedaade local government and Yaqub Sumonu of unit 4, ward 3, Egbedore local government of Osun.

“We have got to know, and we have it on good authority that Senator Ademola Adeleke did not complete his secondary school education; and thus did not qualify to contest the gubernatorial ticket of the party.

“Part of the constitutional requirement for a governorship candidate in any political party is that he/she must also be educated to at least the School certificate level or its equivalent, according to Section 177 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

“The testimonial letter tendered by Senator Adeleke at the party secretariat for his screening is questionable and should be investigated by the party leadership, to avoid dragging the integrity of the party into the mud and taking it back into the old days of battered image.

“The consequences of fielding an aspirant with questionable credentials are severely high and detrimental; it is like committing a political servitude and playing into the hands of the All Progressives Congress-APC.

“We must alert the leadership of the party that ‘a person is disqualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if or she presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)”, by virtue of Section 182 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The petitioners also warned PDP of fielding Adeleke as the flag-bearer of the party, saying “the PDP should be wary of the Adeleke dynasty’s desperation to pocket our party and have unfettered control on the state resources when the PDP win the governorship election.”

Accusing Adeleke of bringing derision to the party since he became the senator with his ‘immature attitude’ in the public, the petitioner said it is unbecoming of a senator of the country to be dancing like commercial dancers in a party everywhere he goes.

“We write this letter in good faith and with total commitment to the progress and victory of our dear party in the forthcoming governorship election”, they submitted.

All effort to get in touch with Senator Adeleke or any of his family members proved abortive.

However, a chieftain of the PDP who did not want his name in print said: “This is a time of politics, you should expect petition from here and there. It is not what everybody says that you take serious at this time of political gimmicks. This is a time of frivolous and baseless petition, though I am not saying this one we are talking about is unfounded.”

Source: CityMirrorNews

Osun 2018: 11 Aspirants To Jostle For PDP’s Ticket

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) screening committee for Osun state governorship election on Wednesday, June 27, cleared all the 11 aspirants contesting to be the party’s flag bearer in the September 22 governorship election in the state.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the chairman of the screening committee, Austin Opara, at the presentation of Screening Certificates to the aspirants at Wadata Plaza in Abuja, said all the aspirants were successful.

The aspirants are Senator Akanbi Abdulrasheed, Oyewumi Olalere, Nathaniel Oke, Senator Ogunwale Felix and Alhaji Fatai Akinbade.

Others are Ezekiel Adeniji, Akin Ogunbiyi, Ayoade Adewepo, Rafiu Bello, Senator Nurudeen Adeleke and Adeolu Durotoye. Opara commended the aspirants and urged them to work as a team for PDP’s success in the election.

The deputy national secretary of the party, Emmanuel Agboh, addressing the aspirants, advised them to engage meaningful discussion on possibility of having consensus candidate for the election.

Osun 2018: New Twist Emerges In PDP

Adeleke, Ogunbiyi Tagged ‘Foreigners’
’Locals’ Join Forces

By Solomon Odeniyi

There is a new twist to the contest for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket ahead of the September 22 governorship election in the State of Osun, as the chances of Senator Ademola Adeleke and that of an Insurance Magnate, Akin Ogunbiyi were reported to be getting slimmer inspite their financial muscles.

Of recent, political spectators have zeroed down the contest to those with financial capacity, particularly Adeleke and Ogunbiyi, but the new development is relegating the duo to the background, as party members, particularly delegates have tagged them foreigners.

However a member of the PDP team who recently toured the nine federal constituencies to feel the pulse of party members said from all indications, members, particularly delegates have made up their minds to collect money from any of the aspirants, but vote for a perceived local person during the primary.

Some party delegates who spoke with this medium averred that the activities of the two aspirants have shown that they were too desperate to get the party’s ticket, hence when they eventually win the governorship election; there is likelihood that they would not be accessible to local people.

One of the delegate said: “Adeleke has never been part of us, not until when his brother died and he was asked to come and replace him in the senate and since then, he has not been making himself available not until when the governorship contest came.

“So, there is premonition that when he wins the election, the local people here will be sidelined and we are afraid that what Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is doing now by bringing in foreigners might repeat itself.

“On the Ogunbiyi’s side, we don’t even know him at all; he just came from nowhere and started spending money to get the party’s ticket. Someone we do not know and he too doesn’t know people, how will he be accessible.

“The rumour recently milling the round that Ogunbiyi is a protégé of Bola Tinubu has strengthen the fear that this man is not for us, but for the other side and that has been creating confusion within the party”, the source said.

Another delegate noted that this is the time for the party members, particularly delegates and party leaders to enrich themselves from the largesse of the aspirants and they would do so, but support a local person who will be known and accessible to members of the party when the party takes over the governance of the state.

Meanwhile, about three frontline aspirants from the West Senatorial zone in the party, including a former Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade; former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon Adejare Bello and former ALGON Chairman, Akogun Lere Oyewumi who considered themselves financially inferior were reported to have started planning to join forces with a view to tackling their perceived ‘foreign base’ politicians.

The plan, according to a source was that, if any of the aspirants is presented as the party’s candidate and eventually wins the election, it would be better for them and their followers, having been together locally for a long time rather than picking someone who has never been part of the system.

However, one factor that has been working against one of the aspirants in the force, Akinbade, the source said was his defection from the PDP and political sojourn in Labour Party for some times before his return, saying all of the aspirants have been building on the loopholes they might found to campaign against one another.

Osun Guber Race: Adeleke, Ogunbiyi’s Ambitions Strain PDP’s Unity

By Shina Abubakar

The build up to the 2018 governorship primary election in the State of Osun chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) seems to be creating another crisis, as the financial muscles of two major aspirants in the party is dividing its stakeholders.

Investigations showed that since Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi joined the race on the party platform, many observers had termed the contest a show of financial muscles between the newcomer and the Adeleke’s family.

A section of the party is of the view that Ogunbiyi could liberate the party from the hold of the Adeleke family, which is believed to have the control of the party executives and delegates across the state.

However, the state PDP Chairman, Hon. Soji Adagunodo had in a statement denied that the party is working for a particular candidate or being in support of the Adeleke family, he pledged its decision to give all aspirants a level playing ground to contest the party ticket.

But checks indicated that many of the party members are afraid that the influence the Adeleke family has on the party may work against the man who came with loads of money for the party supporters.

A source close to the party secretariat confided in the medium that many of the party’s stakeholders in the state do not trust Ogunbiyi, especially, being a Lagos based business man and he is already tagged an ‘Ajele’, who does not understand the political terrain.

The source further disclosed that the speculations from many of the other aspirants about the authenticity of Ogunbiyi’s intention is a source of concern for the elders of the party, who are said to be worried about losing the control of the party to a stranger.

It was however learnt that, the coming of Ogunbiyi may provide a sort of balance of terror financially, between his camp and the Adelekes on one side and some intimidated aspirants, who might see him as a shield against the Adeleke’s arsenal.

Findings showed that the PDP has zoned its governorship ticket to the Osun-West Senatorial zone of the state, where both Ademola Adeleke and Akin Ogunbiyi hail from and the duo had no record of any confrontation but some of their supporters had been nursing fair over their ambitions.

The party source added that it is difficult for the party leadership to forget the contributions of the Adeleke family, especially as the family stood by the party in the peak days of its crisis and stabilize it in the state.

Besides, it added that the family had through the late Isiaka Adeleke movement helped to keep its members across the state intact during the time of crisis and funding many of its activities when the party was expected to lose membership to the ruling party in the state.

According to the source, the Adelekes deployed their resource towards ensuring that it was freed from Senator Iyiola Omisore and ensured that the party held its congresses across the state and also galvanized its supporters towards having a united front against the tyranny of the former senator.

It also ensured that its first major outing after the congress did not fail and the PDP, the source added, is not known for abandoning those that stood by it at a time of turmoil.

Similarly, since the inception of Ogunbiyi, he has not failed to help the party financially and he has always redeemed his pledges to the party.

“He has also pledged to play by the rules of the party and only seek a level playing ground for all the aspirants. That I believe is not too much for the party to provide and in addition, the man had just given the party the campaign vehicle he promised us”, the source added.

Findings revealed that some of the aspirants have been nursing grievances against the party executives in the state, believing that they have been relegated to the background in the scheme of things and have even vowed to resist any attempt to sell the party to the highest bidder.

Two of the aspirants who were part of the past PDP administration in the state were even fingered to be part of those claiming that Ogunbiyi was sponsored by some power brokers in Lagos and have been on the party’s neck to make sure money is not made a priority in the coming primary election.

This new development is building up tension in the party, especially among supporters of the aspirants, who believed they have sacrificed more than enough for the party for anyone to come and seize control of the party from them.

It was gathered that PDP members have been sensitizing delegates across the state on the need for them to ensure that the party remains a collective property rather than an item that can be purchased by moneybags.

Osun Guber Race: Chances And Challenges Of The Aspirants

The Zoning Permutations

By Kehinde Ayantunji

Following the last week Monday lifting of ban by the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of July 7 party primary, political atmosphere in the state is becoming more charged as aspirants commenced the struggle to be the party’s flagbearer.

The development appeared to have triggered more governorship ambition’s declarations in the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while the APC aspirants have formally unveiled their campaign offices within the state capital.

Despite the silence of the State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on his choice of successor, coast is becoming clearer on the gubernatorial hopeful within the ruling APC while the PDP leadership in the state is also narrowing down his choice among the contending aspirants.

As at the time of filling this report, 27 aspirants have shown interest to occupy Bola Ige house from the APC, while 14 aspirants have equally shown interests within the PDP.

APC aspirants include the speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon Najeem Salaam; the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola; Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; Deputy Speaker, Federal House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuf; Chairman Local Government Service Commission, Elder Peter Babalola; Project Coordinator, Osun RAMP, Eng Adelere Oriolowo; Alao Olabisi, Oyebisi Alamu, Jolayemi Kamoru and Dr. Isiaka Owoade.

Others are former commissioner for Information and Strategy, Oluomo Sunday Akere, Dr Ismail Saka Layonu, Elder Tunde Adediji , Mrs. Akanbi Alimot Bolanle, Hon. Akintayo Gafar Amere, Adeyemo Ayodele Fatai, Babatunde Adedotun Taiwo , Dr. Samuel Ibiyemi , Ayoade Lawal, Dr. Taofeek Olayinka, Barrister Kunle Rasheed Adegoke among others.

Leading aspirants in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) include former Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, Senator Ademola Adeleke, Senator Olasunkami Akinlabi, Akogun Lere Oyewunmi, former Speaker of the state Assembly, Hon Adejare Bello, Barr Kayode Oduoye, Barister Nathaniel Oke (SAN), Professor Adeolu Durotoye among others.

However, OSUN DEFENDER’s survey within the APC indicated that the contest might be among only few top aspirants except there vis any last minute politicking by Governor Aregbesola that may alter the voting calculations in the party.

Findings among the party leaders and members in the state showed that the top contenders include Oyetola, Adeoti, Salaam, Yusuff, Babalola, Layoonu, Kunle Adegoke among others.

The party is not routing for zoning against the expectations of some of its chieftains, as all aspirants, according to the state party Chairman, Prince Gboyega Famodun, would be given chance to participate in the primary election.

A member of the state working committee of the party who confided in OSUN DEFENDER confirmed that at one of its recent meetings, the option of zoning has been dismissed as unconstitutional which may encourage post primary litigations and discourage competition to produce the best among the aspirants.

In examining the chances and challenges among the leading aspirants within the APC, zoning, ability to consolidate on Governor Aregbesola’s success in 8 years, political experience appeared to be the issues that party chieftains are using to evaluate aspirants.

For instance, Hon Najeem Salaam a second term Speaker of the state House of Assembly is banking on the support of party chieftains, past and present members of the state assembly.

Since 1999 he has been an active participant in the progressive politics, from supervisory councilor to the state house of assembly. He is also considered to be a “home base” who is humble and loyal to the party, especially in supporting the governor’s policies and projects. At a point, the house he superintends was tagged a ‘rubber stamp’ as a result of his support for the executive arm of the government. Another aspirant to watch out for in the race is the present Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, a technocrat and long standing financier of the party. Aside political appointments, Oyetola is for the first time contesting for the public office. He is seen as a major stabiliser during financial and labour crisis in the state and his coporate background to sustain the legacies of Aregbesola is strengthening his chances.

He is rumored to be the favorites of Governor Aregbesola, but the governor has dismissed such insinuation during the federal constituencies tour that he has no favorite among the contending aspirants. He is also not giving anything to chance by consulting across the zones to actualize his ambition. The major challenge for his aspiration is the agitation for zoning the seat to Osun-West.

In the same category is the Secretary to the state governor, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti who was a party Chairman since 2002 till 2010 that he became the SSG. His long stay in the party leadership has earned him the respect and support of party chieftains and members across the zones. He is a man to watch out for in the race, but Osun West senatorial district where Adeoti is banking on may be divided as over 20 aspirants from the district are also vying for the party’s ticket.

Elder Peter Babalola, a former chief of staff to ex-Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola and current Chairman Local Government Service Commission is another major aspirant in the race. He is also a grassroots politician who has been contesting for governorship since 1999. His major challenge is that about four other aspirants are from his home town, Ikire, a situation that may weaken his support base.

Kunle Adegoke, a lawyer and one of the counsel to Governor Aregbesola during the Election Petition Tribunal is another aspirant that may spring surprise in the race, although, despite his popularity among youth in the central senatorial district, he appeared not to weigh any influence in the party leadership. He was considered to be fenced outside the party for certain political reason.

However, Adegoke is among the few aspirants that are meeting party delegates across the three senatorial districts in the state and not giving anything to chance.

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Lasun Yusuf, is also considered to have been decimated in the control of the party in various local government which may substantially affect his chances in the race.

A party source told our reporter that Lasun has been fenced out during the last party congress to the extent that he could not boast of 30 percent delegates from his local government, however, he is banking on his closeness to Abuja and his financial muscle to prosecute his ambition.

While Engineer Adelere Oriolowo is considered to be a close ally of governor Aregbesola, the Iwo-born engineer is seen to be a new comer in the state political terrain. Many observers believe that the choice of the governor would determine his fate in the primary.

Meanwhile, the situation in PDP remain different, it appeared that the party leadership has conceded the party thicket to Osun-West Senatorial District. A member of the Board of Trustee of the party confided in our reporter that the party is not thinking outside Osun West and will soon pronounce the decision through its national leadership.

Likely aspirants from the zone include Senator Ademola Adeleke, Akinlabi Olasunkami, Adejare Bello, Akogun Lere Oyewunmi, Akin Ogunbiyi among others.

Senator Iyiola Omisore, who recently defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), in his case is facing tougher challenges as his ambition has again met brickwall in his new party.

There is also the issue of opposition by some other aspirants and some individuals in the party, the Senatorial District he comes from, Osun East which produced the incumbent, his credibility crisis and the capacity of his new party to mobilise support are his challenges.

Stop Exhibiting Ignorance About Governance – Osun APC Tells PDP

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state of Osun has advised the PDP chairman, Soji Adagunodo to stop disgracing himself by exhibiting total ignorance about how the government of Osun is run.

A statement issued by the party’s Director of Publicity, Research and Publicity, Barrister Kunle Oyatomi said the Aregbesola-led administration is running an expansive government for the interest of the masses.

According to the APC, Gov Rauf Aregbesola is not driving the affairs of the state in the old and corrupt style of the last PDP regime. Saying, “The APC government in Osun is unique. Its control mechanism is expansive, which makes the governor’s office larger than usual.

“Gov. Aregbesola’s effectiveness has everything to do with how his office runs. Several agencies he created and attached to the Governor’s office are the secret of his success so far.

“Adagunodo is deliberately ignorant of this and in his negative disposition; he preferred to deceive himself that the Governor’s office is a small space within the establishment, which should therefore be extremely limited in its running and funding.

“It is this ignorance that inspired the senseless criticism by the PDP chairman of the budget of the Governor’s office. And it shows the limitation of his political and administrative expertise.

“Most government in Nigeria failed as a result of the kind of ignorance of Adagunodo as to how the formal establishment runs. Any politician who succeeds in governance is the one who can bypass the formal tardiness of the establishment and make government work effectively.

“In Yorubaland, those who have succeeded in running government effectively after our legendary Obafemi Awolowo are the ones that have, by and large, taking effective control of policy implementations outside the norm. Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande, led the pack of successful politicians in Yoruba land who did things differently and made the establishment work like it never did before to achieve maximum result.

“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu followed that trend and got successors who worked his style and have made Lagos the greatest city in Nigeria”, said the statement.

It added that Aregbesola has gone one step further to demonstrate that a politician and government that know what they want to do, have to invest resources in his control mechanism.

This is more so because according to the APC, the PDP regime that governed Osun between 2003 and 2010, flooded the establishment with less than knowledgeable, incompetent and untrained hands that not only corrupted the system, they made it to malfunction.

“To reinvent the system and reinvigorate its delivery capacity therefore, Aregbesola had first, to expand his office to exercise greater control over the PDP corrupted establishment.

“So, when you talk about the Governor’s office, you are talking about an octopus-like structure, not just where the governor sits. And experience has shown that Aregbesola was right in his choice of expanding his office to include agencies that have made his government more effective than any one which Osun has experienced in the last 27 years.

“This explains the so-called high budget of the Governor’s office. But in comparative terms, it is cheaper than the cost of failure, which the PDP brought to Osun for nearly a decade.

“However, kleptocrats like Adagunodo have lost their ability of comparative analysis. For them, success in government is measured by the number of fraudulent millionaires that a governing party creates”, it added.

According to the statement, this is not the first time the PDP would invite the anti-corruption agency (EFCC) to investigate presumed fraud in the Aregbesola-led APC government saying. their first attempt ended disgracefully as Aregbesola was absolved of any corrupt practice.

“This time around, the PDP could get into legal trouble for providing false information to implicate an innocent person. That’s a crime and they better be warned.

“We state without a doubt in our mind, that in modern human governance, borrowing is the facilitator for development. But Osun thieves who had been in government would rather steal public funds to make themselves comfortable, than borrow money to develop their communities.

“This has been the pattern and style of the PDP in Osun. It is also the reason they are all finding faults with Aregbesola’s resort to borrowing to build a prosperous and economically dynamic state of Osun”, it reads.

Office Of The Governor’s Budget: PDP Leaders Are Fiscal Illiterates – Osun Govt

The Government of Osun has described as false, baseless and unfounded the allegation of financial malfeasance levelled against the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola by the state chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A statement by the Media Adviser to the Governor, Mr Sola Fasure, said PDP had once against demonstrated its skill at deception and uncanny ability to turn white into blue in a bid to discredit the people-oriented government of Aregbesola.

He stated further that the opposition PDP in Osun in company with the party’s governorship aspirants dished out concocted figures that were a mix-bag of lies and half truths containing wildly flawed and incorrect statistics about spending in the Office of the Governor.

According to Fasure, Osun PDP has demonstrated for too long its inherent ability for untruth and deception and so the recent information it purported to disclose to the public was nothing unusual as it is the party’s stock in trade.

PDP had claimed that the Office of the Governor spent N6.3 billion in 2016, among other sundry financial improprieties. Fasure described this alleged financial information as a display of monumental fiscal ignorance to ascribe the Office of the Governor to the person of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

According to Fasure, the dubious press conference by the PDP was therefore a desperate attempt to change the narrative on the soaring popularity of Governor Aregbesola and the APC in contrast to the dwindling fortunes of the PDP in the state and all over the country.

The statement read in part: “We therefore have the following to say on the cacophonic baloney concocted by the PDP on the account of the state.

“The primary source of the information relied upon was the state audited account for 2015 and 2016 that had been publicly presented with fanfare on April 4 this year.

“It is therefore curious how the state’s account transparently presented to the public could be a source from which the opposition will draw allegations of financial impropriety.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Osun is the only state among the six participating states in the State and Local Governance Reform (SLOGOR) Project that publicly presented its account for three years running. Others are Anambra, Cross River, Jigawa, Kano and Yobe.

“The PDP got its facts wrong by claiming that the Office of the Governor spent N6.3 billion in 2016. It was actually N9.7 billion. N4.8 billion was also expended in 2015, as against N1.2 billion falsely claimed by PDP. But it is a display of monumental fiscal ignorance to ascribe the Office of the Governor to the person of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

“There are 28 agencies under the Office of the Governor. These are: Osun Park and Gardens; Wife of the Governor; Office of Regional Integration; Bureau of Government House and Protocols; Christian Welfare Board; Muslim Welfare Board; Public Procurement Agency; Osun State Sports Council; Office of the Deputy Governor; Public Service Office; Special Project Office; Sustainable Development Goals; O’Jobs; Office of Human Resources; Bureau of Public Service Pension; Office of Economic Development and Partnership; Policy and Economic Team; Office of Forestry, Natural and Mineral Resources; Office of Policy Coordination; Bureau of General Services; Osun State Emergency Management Agency; Bureau of Lands; O’Honey; United Nations Development Programme; Osun State Agency for the Control of AIDS; Sustainable Development Goals; and Bureau of Communications and Strategy. These are the agencies which received the budgetary allocation under reference, not the person of the governor.

“A breakdown of the 2016 sum reveals that N648 million was spent on personnel, N2.5 billion on overhead while N4.99 billion was spent on pension, making a total N8.1billion. The balance of N1.56 billion was expended on capital acquisition and other critical expenditures.

“It is ridiculous and the height of mischief to claim that the state government spent N1.8 million on health in 2016. Capital project and project funded on health alone was to the tune of a total sum of N498 million in 2016. Hospital Management Board in 2016 also got N1.5 billion. Capital projects in health were also carried out under Sustainable Development Goals and the Ministry of Health.

“PDP also claimed that the Office of the Governor spent N276 million on ‘infrastructure maintenance’. This is false. The sum was expended on ‘infrastructure acquisition’. There is a world of difference between ‘acquisition’ and ‘maintenance’.

“The state government has had to use huge sums to repay debts. These debts date back to the old Oyo State. Aregbesola’s administration inherited a total of N19.9 billion debt incurred by the previous PDP administration. These debts were owed UBA, Zenith Bank and Sterling Bank. As it is evident to all, the bonds were used efficiently for infrastructure development.

“The state government also took more than N25 billion loan to pay workers salaries and it was in order to avoid cumulating more debts to pay workers salaries that the government adopted the modulated salary structure arrangement.”

Fasure averred that it is sad to behold the display of intellectual ineptitude of PDP which made a mountain out of the molehill and in the process expose itself to ridicule and public opprobrium with the expression of monumental ignorance on simple fiscal matters.

He stated that the PDP leadership, with its governorship aspirants including a professor and a Senator of the Federal Republic, shamefully displayed crass ignorance in its failure to know and distinguish the difference between the Office of the Governor and the person of the governor.

According to Fasure, this faux pas has morally disqualified PDP and its aspirants from occupying any leadership position, having demonstrated their unsuitability to govern the state.

He therefore, alerted the media and the public to be wary of the diabolic intentions of the PDP leadership who are ‘certified confusionists that have perfected the art of lying and public deception.’

‘Adagunodo, You Are Ignorant’ – Osun APC Tells PDP Boss

The APC in the state of Osun has advised the PDP chairman, Soji Adagunodo to stop disgracing himself by exhibiting total ignorance about how the government of Osun is run.

According to the APC, Governor Rauf Aregbesola is not driving the affairs of the state in the old and corrupt style of the last PDP regime. The APC government in Osun is unique. Its control mechanism is expansive, which makes the governor’s office larger than usual.

Its Spokesperson, Kunle Oyatomi in a statement chided the PDP chairman for his insatiable lies against the present administration in the State of Osun in reaction to an article discrediting the Governor on his impressive performance at an interactive session tagged “Ogbeni Til Daybreak On Saturday.”

HERE IS THE COMPLETE STATEMENT BELOW

The APC in the state of Osun has advised the PDP chairman, Soji Adagunodo to stop disgracing himself by exhibiting total ignorance about how the government of Osun is run.

According to the APC, Gov Rauf Aregbesola is not driving the affairs of the state in the old and corrupt style of the last PDP regime. The APC government in Osun is unique. Its control mechanism is expansive, which makes the governor’s office larger than usual.

Gov. Aregbesola’s effectiveness has everything to do with how his office runs. Several agencies he created and attached to the Governor’s office are the secret of his success so far.

Adagunodo is deliberately ignorant of this and in his negative disposition, he preferred to deceive himself that the Governor’s office is a small space within the establishment, which should therefore be extremely limited in its running and funding.

It is this ignorance that inspired the senseless criticism by the PDP chairman of the budget of the Govern’or’s office. And it shows the limitation of his political and administrative expertise.

Most government in Nigeria failed as a result of the kind of ignorance of Adagunodo as to how the formal establishment runs. Any politician who succeeds in governance is the one who can bypass the formal tardiness of the establishment and make government work effectively.

In Yorubaland, those who have succeeded in running government effectively after our legendary Obafemi Awolowo are the ones that have, by and large, taking effective control of policy implementations outside the norm. Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande, led the pack of successful politicians in Yoruba land who did things differently and made the establishment work like it never did before to achieve maximum result.

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu followed that trend and got successors who worked his style and have made Lagos the greatest city in Nigeria.

Now in Osun, Aregbesola has gone one step further to demonstrate that a politician and government that know what they want to do, have to invest resources in his control mechanism.

This is more so because the PDP regime that governed Osun between 2003 and 2010, flooded the establishment with less than knowledgeable, incompetent and untrained hands that not only corrupted the system, they made it to malfunction.

To reinvent the system and reinvigorate its delivery capacity therefore, Aregbesola had first, to expand his office to exercise greater control over the PDP corrupted establishment.

So, when you talk about the Governor’s office, you are talking about an octopus-like structure, not just where the governor sits. And experience has shown that Aregbesola was right in his choice of expanding his office to include agencies that have made his government more effective than any one which Osun has experienced in the last 27 years.

This explains the so-called high budget of the Governor’s office. But in comparative terms, it is cheaper than the cost of failure, which the PDP brought to Osun for nearly a decade.

However, kleptocrats like Adagunodo have lost their ability of comparative analysis. For them, success in government is measured by the number of fraudulent millionaires that a governing party creates.

The PDP has been notorious for this inglorious practice. So, for any community to vote into power such politicians AGAIN, will constitute a mortal sin against themselves and their own people. Osun however has more intelligent people than that.

This is not the first time the PDP would invite the anti-corruption agency (EFCC) to investigate presumed fraud in the Aregbesola-led APC government. Their first attempt ended disgracefully. Aregbesola was absolved of any corrupt practice.

This time around, the PDP could get into legal trouble for providing false information to implicate an innocent person. That’s a crime and they better be warned.

In conclusion, we state without a doubt in our mind, that in modern human governance, borrowing is the facilitator for development. But Osun thieves who had been in government would rather steal public funds to make themselves comfortable, than borrow money to develop their communities.
This has been the pattern and style of the PDP in Osun.

It is also the reason they are all finding faults with Aregbesola’s resort to borrowing to build a prosperous and economically dynamic state of Osun.
Yes, kleptocrats are mindless thieves and their comfort zone is in the PDP.

Osun people will disgrace them in September because they know what they suffered between 2003 and 2010.They will not make the mistake to bring back the PDP to power.

It will be unconscionable suicide.

Kunle Oyatomi Esq,
Director of Publicity, Research and Publicity,
APC, State of Osun

PDP Southwest Rally, A Picture Of Defeat – Osun APC

Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as fools those who still believe the mischief makers in the opposition that Governor Rauf Aregbesola was carting away Osun funds for use in Lagos.

In a statement by the Director, Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi following the South west rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osogbo said such people really need help, because they are worse than gullible, saying, Lagos does not need Osun’s money.

Describing the PDP as a mischievous party, the APC said it was evident at the rally that the “Overhyped PDP mega rally was a little better than a town hall meeting”.

“PDP has promised 15000 people from Osogbo alone will decamp, but only two leaders (a business man and a weak politician) and a few Korope loads of supporters showed up.

“The Ibadan crowd led by decamping Rasheed Ladoja stole the show. Then one Secondus came all the way from Abuja to Osogbo to declare that the PDP was on a rescue mission. It was all pathetic. Those who witnessed 2014 PDP rally at the same venue will be sorry for the party, or what was left of the PDP at the rally.

“The Yoruba nation, if it ever needs deliverance would not look for one from a Secondus. And Osun does not need to be told by Tijani Oladosu where the state money was being spent. All over Osun, the evidence is there. But maybe TILAD would need a functioning eyes to see beyond the Korope he was supplying the state.

“Lagos does not need Osun’s money, and the fools who still believe that Gov Rauf Aregbesola was carting away Osun funds for use in Lagos really need help, because they are worse than gullible.

“The rally which was supposed to be ‘a show of strength’ turned out to be an exhibition of a diminished political party. That’s why they could also attract inconsequential politicians and businessmen.

“Sensible party men in the PDP won’t need to be told that Saturday’s rally was a picture of the defeat that is around the corner for the PDP in Osun come September”, the statement read.

EDITORIAL: Is PDP Jinxed?

The question of whether the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is jinxed as being asked in many quarters comes to the fore again, as members of the party displayed – yet again – another round of indecent and destructive behaviour during their South-West rally that took place last Saturday in the state of Osun at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo the state capital.

The said PDP rally left destruction in its wake as party hoodlums destroyed some of the facilities put in place at the park. This scenario has again given justification to the popular opinion that the party, rather than being a people’s party, is completely anti-people as it has shown to the public again that it’s always out for destruction. For why should a party that prides itself as a people’s party revel in destroying public property? If a party truly had people’s interest at heart then it will protect and preserve whatever is meant to be enjoyed by the people. The question therefore on the lips of many in the wake of the misconduct exhibited on Saturday, is; ‘why is it that whatever the hand of the PDP touches, it must destroy?’

As a party that held sway at the national level for sixteen years, it destroyed the economy so much so that the people are still grappling with the pervasive poverty and massive deprivation it left behind as its legacies. And in our own state of Osun here, the party couldn’t point to any enduring legacy for its eight years rule. So, isn’t it a contradiction in terms that a party that couldn’t build any enduring legacy is now destroying what it took Ogbeni Aregbesola’s visionary leadership painstaking effort to put in place? This is highly reprehensible!

But much as we are taken aback by this PDP’s misconduct, some analysts do not find it surprising at all as they are of the view that the PDP only exhibited their stock in trade. They believe that since destruction is in their character, then they must always reflect this in their approaches. We substantially agree with this school of thought!

We therefore ask; is this a party that is planning to come back to power both at the state and federal level? Do they think the electorates are fools as to suffer amnesia with respect to the destruction they did to the country’s economy and people’s lives? And having admitted her mistake and made apology to the Nigerian people for the great blow they dealt to the economy, is it wise for the party to relapse into the actions and deeds that were responsible for her downfall? Can’t they reflect?

With such a negative attitude, the PDP had only succeeded in opening the eyes of our people to what they are planning to come and do again if they should return to power. But the Aregbesola’s legacy is just too precious to our people than for them to entrust it in the hands of a destructive and never-do-well party. Osun needs continuity! We mean continuity of the stellar performance of Ogbeni Aregbesola.

Fear, Loathing And The Primaries

Much more is expected of the coalition of progressives in the All Progressives Congress (APC) than the untoward events which followed the primaries in some states recently. The APC is not expected to be a run-of-the-mill formation like the now discredited hardly ‘Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). The natural expectation is for the APC to be at the forefront of consolidating Nigeria’s democracy and in the process transiting itself into the natural party of government.

This is an historic responsibility, for sadly, unlike most of the newly independent countries, Nigeria never really had a natural party or government which would have acted as a rallying point for the republic. This is why the APC should learn the much needed lessons from the unlamented decline of the PDP. Not to do so will be tragic, for the country would have squandered an historic opportunity for progressive change.

The party must therefore begin an unrelenting onward transformation of itself into a functioning democratic organisation based on internal democracy, party discipline and democratic centralism. Prebandalism, the hideous process whereby all politics revolves around just sharing of posts and self-aggrandisement must be deemphasized. Therefore, all parties involved must play their part in ensuring an equitable, transparently free and fair rescheduled primary election in Ekiti today.

There is a lesson here as the primaries approach in the State of Osun. Individuals in the party, if they truly accept the calling must put the progressive trajectory as well as the incontrovertible cause of continuity of people-oriented policies and governance above self.