Oyo State
Niger governor decries level of corruption in Nigeria
The Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has decried the level of corruption in the country’s political and economic environment, insisting that corruption is endemic in all the facets of the nation’s life. Speaking at a two-day ‘Get involved leadership’ training in Minna Wednesday, Governor Bello said: “The problem with Nigeria today is enormous, every sector is corrupted. There is no country that can develop with the level of corruption we have. According to the governor, “When you have a system where only limited or few people are transparent, the system can never work.” He submitted that as a result of the high level of corruption in the polity, political positions either elective or those appointed have always gone to the highest bidder, a development he described as unac...
Oyo rolls out coronavirus vaccination programme
The Oyo State Government on Wednesday joined other states across Nigeria to rollout the COVID-19 vaccination exercise. The state flagged off the exercise in Ibadan with the first consignment of 127,740 doses it received from the Federal Government. Gov. Seyi Makinde was inoculated with Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at exactly 12.20 p.m. During the flag-off, Makinde said that the state had made decision on a sterility test of the vaccine as precautionary measure to ascertain its safety and efficacy. “I have very low tolerance for physical pain, but when duty calls you have to do what you have to do. “I am getting vaccinated today as a show of leadership and to let the people know that they have to be protected. “I ordered for sterility tests because when I asked questions about the origin of t...
Court rules on suit over Olubadan’s seat
File Photo An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan, on Friday, dismissed a suit filed by the Seriki chieftaincy lineage seeking the nullification of the appointment of Oba Saliu Adetunji as the Olubadan of Ibadanland. Olalekan Fakunle, Rasheed Abinupagun, Gabriel Amao, all of Seriki line, had approached the court, challenging the appointment of Mr. Adetunji. They are also challenging the consistent occupation of the Olubadan throne by both the Balogun and Olubadan chieftaincy lines. While dismissing the case for lacking in merit, Justice Muniru Owolabi said that it was not the business of the court to promote the claimants to the position of Olubadan and other vacant positions in the Olubadan-in-Council. Justice Owolabi said that the 1959 Chieftaincy Declaration of Oyo State had regulate...
President Buhari appoints Adedeji Zacch as NSDC scribe
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Mr Adedeji Zacch as the Executive Secretary of National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) for an initial term of four years. Buhari made the announcement in a statement on Thursday by Mr Willie Bassey, Director of Information, office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The statement said that Zacch’s appointment was in accordance with the provision of Section 5 (1) of the National Sugar Development Council (Establishment Act, 1993). Newsmen report that Zacch holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Accounting and Masters degree in Accounting from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun. He also holds Executive Certificate in Economic Development from Harvard, Kennedy School of Government, Boston, ...
Ekiti governor’s wife calls on government to remove tax on sanitary pads
The wife of Ekiti State Governor, Mrs Bisi Fayemi, has called on government to remove taxation on sanitary pads and engage in its local production to make it less expensive. She said this on Thursday at the inauguration of project P4iGC3, Pad for Improved Girl Child Education, by Balm in Gilead Foundation For Sustainable Development, BIGIF in Ado-Ekiti. Mrs Fayemi explained that such government’s policy was needed to promote the girl-child upbringing and keep them in school. “In rural areas, women do not have access to sanitary products. It is safe to say that one in every three girls in the country cannot afford safe and hygienic sanitary pads for proper menstrual hygiene management” she said. She also called for the sensitisation of adolescent girl child on menstrual health management to...
Gani Adams: Pan-Yoruba Congress is work in progress
File Photo The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, on Wednesday, restated his beliefs in the unity and progress of the Yoruba nation, maintaining that with the success of the Pan Yoruba congress, there is no doubt that the unity of the Yoruba nation’s is a collective project and it is surely, a work in progress. Speaking at the Pan Yoruba Congress held at Mapo Hall, Ibadan, Oyo state, Iba Adams said the gathering is geared towards focusing the race’s energy and strengths in securing the Southwest against criminal race, and also strategise in bolstering southwest’s agric and economic prospects. The Yoruba generalissimo also added that Congress offered a bigger platform for all groups to meet minds and discuss the way forward for the Yoruba nation. His words: “Today’s event is a ...
Fleeing Ibadan kidnap kingpin arrested in Ogun
A notorious kidnap kingpin, Usman Hassan, who escaped from Oyo State after killing one of his gang’s victims, has been arrested in Ogun State. Usman and his accomplices had earlier been arrested in Oyo State after they had kidnapped a farm owner at Solalu village, collected ransom and subsequently killed him He sneaked into Ogun State for cover and proceeded to recruit other Fulani men into a fresh kidnap ring, which he formed in the State. It was learnt detectives from Ogun State Police Command stormed his hideout in Imala area and arrested him when they got the information about his activity from those he had tried to recruit into his kidnapping enterprise. The Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who disclosed this in a statement, explained Usman had told detectives he con...
Oyo governor urges army to deploy troops to border towns
Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has appealed to the Nigerian army to deploy troops to border towns in the state to check the influx of criminal-minded people into the country. Makinde made the call while receiving the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, who led other top military personnel on a courtesy visit to the governor on Thursday in Ibadan. The governor, who was represented by his deputy – Alhaji Rauf Olaniyan, noted that the border towns in Oke-Ogun area of the state were porous. He said the challenge of insecurity was not peculiar to Oyo State alone, saying the problem was across the country. He urged the security agencies to intensify efforts in tackling the menace and restore permanent security of lives and property across the country. The governor, who said there was an e...
Femi Fani-Kayode: Old man arrested is not ‘wanted’ Isikilu Wakili
A septuagenarian arrested by members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) is not the “wanted Wakili”, according to former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode. Some members of the OPC in Oyo State had, on Sunday, razed a Fulani settlement at Kajola in Ibarapa area of Oyo State before arresting the elderly blind man. In the process, newsmen gathered Wakili’s daughter-n-law was killed. In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Fani-Kayode said the old man arrested is not the prime suspect. His tweet read, “One Isikilu Wakili, a foreign terrorist who operates in the Ibarapa area, is the most notorious, dangerous and bloodthirsty terrorist in the South-West today. He killed even more people yesterday. He is even worse than Abu and the old man that is in police custody in Ibadan. “The Isikilu Wakili t...
Controversy surrounds whereabouts of OPC men who arrested Iskilu Wakili
Controversy has surrounded the whereabouts of Oodua Peoples Congress operatives who arrested suspected Fulani warlord, Iskilu Wakili. While there are media reports that the men have been transferred to Abuja, some sources in the OPC said they do not know the whereabouts of the detained operatives. The OPC members were detained on Sunday after arresting suspected Fulani warlord, Iskilu Wakili, who was later handed over to the police. It was gathered that representatives of OPC and the Investigating Police Officer in charge of the case would meet at 1 pm on Tuesday (today). According to a media report, the OPC members involved in the arrest were first transferred from Oyo Police Command to Force CID in Alagbon, Lagos, from where they were taken to Abuja. However, sources in the Lagos State P...
Police: Why we detained OPC members after arresting ‘kidnapper’
The police in Oyo State have confirmed detaining three members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) for arresting suspected kidnapper, Iskilu Wakili, on Sunday. The police in a statement by its public relations officer, Olugbenga Fadeyi, said the three members of OPC detained are being interrogated for their involvement in arson and murder. “The Oyo State Police Command would like to inform the general public that at about 0900 hrs of date (7th March 2021), information was received that a group of persons, (later found out to be members of the Odua Peoples Congress OPC), had invaded Kajola community in Ibarapa axis of the State. “The invasion was reportedly aimed at arresting one Wakili, a Fulani by tribe, who is alleged to be the sponsor and mastermind of various criminal attacks against ...
‘Fulani warlord’ Iskilu Wakili arrested in Oyo
A joint team of Ibarapa security operatives, including Oodua Peoples Congress, Vigilante, and other groups have arrested the alleged notorious Fulani warlord terrorising Oyo communities, Iskilu Wakili. Newsmen gathered that Wakili was arrested after several attempts resulting in a gun battle. There had been reports that Wakili and his gang were involved in the killings and kidnapping of several people in Ibarapa, Oke Ogun, Oyo State. Wakili was nabbed barely seven days after his second-in-command, Isiaka Muhammadu, was arrested alongside four others. The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, confirmed Wakili’s arrest in a statement made available to newsmen by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, on Sunday. Adams said the Fulani warlord was arrested around 7 am on Sunday ...
