BREAKING: Ondo INEC office on fire, over 5000 card readers destroyed

The Ondo State office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC is currently on fire.

The fire outbreak which started around 8:45pm at the ICT unit of the commission is yet to be contained as at press time.

Over 5000 card readers have been destroyed in the inferno.

With the cause of the outbreak unknown, men of the fire service are yet to arrive at the scene.

The Ondo State fire service is less than 500 meters from the commission.

The commission is situated in Alagbaka area of Akure, the state capital.

Governorship election in the state had been scheduled for October 10, 2020.

How we’ll win Ondo guber election – YPP candidate

 we’ll win Ondo guber election – YPP candidate

Dotun Ojon, a journalist, is the youngest candidate on the provisional list for the forthcoming governorship election in Ondo State as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The 38-year-old flag-bearer of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) said his mission was to create a sane state from a seemingly confused country. He also disclosed his agenda for the state, which he said lacked the right leadership.

As the youngest candidate for the Ondo governorship election, how do you hope to sell yourself to the people?  

I was not the only person who wished to be the flag-bearer of our great party, but my candidacy scaled through. That same way, we have been meeting the people, making ourselves and the programmes of our great party, the YPP understandable and acceptable.

The good thing is that our people are tired of the present leadership of the state and have been praying for something entirely different. That thing they have been praying for is what we represent. I must mention that our candidacy has been receiving attention, support and acceptance all over the state.

What prompted your decision to contest?

I will like to paint a scenario of a good keyboardist or singer who goes to a church where the man singing or playing the keyboard is not good enough. I bet with you that the man will be uncomfortable all through the service.

In that same manner, because we know a better way to serve our people, we feel very uncomfortable seeing them wallowing in wants in the midst of abundance. It grieves me to see the way our people are being led at the moment when we do have the capacity to lead them to prosperity and abundance.

Our managers over the years have sold to the people that having good governance is not possible in Nigeria. So, we want to create a sane state from a seemingly confused country, that at the end, the hope of the people will be revived and Ondo may truly be a place of reference, as far as governance is concerned.

Why do you think you should be the next Ondo governor?

I should be the governor of my state because our people deserve to lead a life that matches our prosperity level. It is satanic to live in a state that has every good thing in abundance and still be in abject poverty. The challenge we have in Ondo State is not of resources or funds, it is that of leadership failure. Leadership entails many things, and one of it is the ability of anyone leading to place people at the centre of leadership purpose, programme and policy. But the reverse is the case in my state.

Leadership, as we have it now, is about power, where the man wants to continue as governor, the wife as deputy in disguise, and the son, the chief of staff in authority. Leadership, to them, is about what they can get from the entire governance process and not what they can give. But we want to do something differently.

We want to give people a four-year moment of glory and the opportunity to share directly from the prosperity purse of their state.

Some people do not take your candidature seriously because you don’t have any major political antecedent and experience, what is your take on this?

It is understandable. In a community where 40-year-olds are still looking for jobs, 15 years after graduation, people may doubt our mission.

In a society where mere certification has replaced good education, people may say we are not ready. But the truth is this – no man will stake what we have staked if he is not ready. No man will close a door of possibility to open that of impossibility if he is not willing to disrupt the status quo.

I must quickly tell you, however, that things are changing fast. We are becoming very acceptable by the day. And I know that by the end of this month, it would be clearer to everyone that we are going to emerge winner.

Do you have what it takes to defeat an incumbent governor?

I often tell people that we are not in this race to defeat anyone. In fact, this to us is not a contest between professional politicians, it is an expression of our commitment to something different. We only want to win the election by first winning the heart of our people. For the professional politicians, they are free to be defeating one another. In fact, they have started doing that already and we are taking advantage of that to advance our course. So the resources we are deploying are not to match what others are spending but to strategically communicate our commitment to our community.

How would you describe your support base?

We perhaps have the best in terms of the dependable support base. The majority of our people have not voted before. And in this category, we have about 500,000 people who are truthful about what they want. And that is having me as their governor on the day of our election.

What do you plan to do differently in Ondo State?

To lead differently. Once we change the direction of leadership, everything begins to work differently. We want to build a system that will stabilise governance, even after our own tenure because the kind of system you run determines the kind of result you get.

The leadership system they run in our state now is the one that excludes the majority of people from both governance and the dividends of government.

We identified this challenge and came up with the LEAP AGENDA to help guide our leadership direction as we move on in government.

You tagged your campaign LEAP agenda, what do the residents stand to gain from this?

Every component of the LEAP agenda is people-focused. The letter ‘L’ for instance stands for Leadership, Light (electricity), Labour, Life, and Property Security. And if you notice, these are not new promises, we are only driving them with new passion and technique.

On electricity, for instance, we do not intend to join more people to the national grid, we even intend to drop more people off the grid in communities with agricultural possibilities and entrepreneurial potentials and light them, up using alternative sources.

On labour, we want to build a labour force that will rival the private sector in welfare package, so that our workforce can rival the private sector in productivity.

The security programme of our government is hinged on intelligence and technology. We will start by re-jigging the law creating Amotekun to include what we call the State Intelligence Agency, an arm that will deploy technology to police our communities.

What are your expectations from the INEC and security agencies?

The only thing we expect from them is never to take sides, before, during and even after the poll. We must all know that Nigeria is our own, so we must put the country above sentiments.

How are you conducting your campaigns in the face of this pandemic?

To us, the pandemic is not all evil. This is because politicians may have to rely on the media and one-on-one campaigns. This is what we are doing. I must confess that we are doing well in it. With this campaign, we are not talking in terms of local government again. There are just 18 local government areas in Ondo State, but over 200 political wards. In fact, we have even gone beyond talking about the wards too; we are discussing happenings based on polling units. And it has brought us closer to our people

NEMA Issues Flood Alert, Says Ekiti, Ondo, Osun and 25 other States On Danger List

Mr Afolayan said 28 states and 102 local government areas in the country risked being flooded any moment from now due to the impending heavy rainfall in the country.

The National Emergency Management Agency has asked Nigerians to prepare for an imminent flood between the month of August and October this year. 

Director, Operations of NEMA in charge of Ekiti, Ondo and Osun states, Mr Olusegun Afolayan, gave the warning on Friday in Akure. 

Mr Afolayan said 28 states and 102 local government areas in the country risked being flooded any moment from now due to the impending heavy rainfall in the country. 

According to him, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency had earlier in February alerted Nigerians to an impending heavy rainfall due to climate change that will lead to flooding.

He said the agency had started sensitising residents ahead of the impending danger, most especially on how to get prepared and channel their waste properly. 

He said, "And if flooding happens, it will lead to loss of lives and properties and we have to forewarn communities that may be affected.

“Those that built on the flood plains should move away in other to avoid the imminent flood disaster that is likely to happen between the month of August and October.

“Flooding is not always caused by heavy downpour alone, but when dams were opened too, it always leads to flooding.

“About 28 states and 102 local governments have been earmarked for this possible flooding."

Ondo Governoship: Meet the Eight aspirants battling for PDP ticket

Eight aspirants will on Wednesday battle for the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP that would pitch them against the incumbent governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the October 10 election.

The candidates include former Attorney General and commissioner for Justice of the state, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) who was the gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in 2016 election.

Ondo guber: Akeredolu emerges APC candidate

Ondo police to bar politicians with security aides from voting venue

Jegede comes from Ondo central senatorial district, He is the only aspirant from that district.

Eyitayo Jegede

Another aspirant is Dr Eddy Olafeso, the national vice Chairman of PDP, South West.

Olafeso is a former Commissioner for Information in the state and he is from southern senatorial district.

We also have the state deputy governor, Hon Agboola Ajayi who crossed from APC to PDP recently. Like Olafeso, the deputy governor is also from the southern senatorial district. About five of the candidates are from the district.

Ondo State Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi

Engr Sola Ebiseni, a two time commissioner is also from the Southern senatorial district and a consistent member of the PDP.

Another aspirant is Mr Banjo Okunomo, he was a publicity sectary of the party. He is also from the southern senatorial district.

Another aspirant is Senator Boluwaji Kunlere who was elected senator on the platform of Labour Party. He is also from the southern senatorial district.

Mr Godday Arewa is another aspirant. He is also from Ilaje, the southern senatorial district.

Dr Bode Ayorinde, a former member of the House of Representatives from Owo town, the hometown of governor Akeredolu.

He was a member of the APC before he crossed to PDP. He is from northern senatorial district.

Aspirants, factions disagree over indirect primaryFocus on party’s victory – S’West APC

The All Progressives Congress candidate for the October 10 governorship election in Ondo State will emerge today (Monday) at a primary election that will be contested by the state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, and 10 other aspirants.

Ahead of the election, there were intrigues on Sunday as some aspirants engaged in last-minute talks aimed at forming an alliance against Akeredolu.

Besides Akeredolu,  other aspirants  are Chief Olusola Oke, Dr Segun Abraham, Mr Olaide Adelami, Bukola Adetula, Mrs Jumoke Anifowose, Ambassador Sola Iji, Mr Isaac Kekemeke, Jimi Odimayo, Mr Nathaniel Adojutelegan and Mr Awodeyi Akinsehinwa.

The party had last month disclosed that it would adopt indirect primary to pick its governorship candidate, but  11 aspirants in a memo they jointly signed  kicked  against it.

The Chairman of the Primary Committee and Kogi State Governor, Mr Yahaya Bello, on Friday turned down the request of the aspirants, saying they could not dictate to the party.

Aspirants  in last-minute alliance talks against Akeredolu

It was gathered that there might be last-minute alliance among the aspirants as several meetings were going on among the party leaders and the aspirants to reduce the number of aspirants so that most popular aspirant would get the ticket of the party.

The spokesperson for one of the aspirants,  Adelami;  Mr Rahaman Yusuf, confirmed that his boss had met with many party leaders.

On Sunday, it was learnt that many of the aspirants, who were active at the initial stage of the preparation for the primary, were said to have lost confidence in getting the desired victory at the primary following the alleged imposition of the indirect primary.

An aide to one of the aspirants, on condition of anonymity,  informed one of our correspondents that his boss knew he had lost the primary already, alleging that the national secretariat of the party had concluded plans to give Akeredolu the ticket of the party.

Akerodolu to benefit from indirect primary

Also, there were indications on Sunday that  Akeredolu  would benefit from the indirect primary.

A top-ranking member of the party who, spoke on condition of  anonymity, said, “Most incumbent governors prefer the indirect mode because those who emerge as delegates are their loyalists.

“There are those we call automatic delegates and these include party members from the state who are former governors, former deputy governors, former speakers and deputy speakers, serving national and state Assembly members.”

Oke vows to challenge indirect primary

One of governorship aspirants, Chief Olusola Oke, who expressed his displeasure over the adoption of indirect primary, however, said he would participate in the primary but would challenge the process.

Aspirants yet to see delegates’ list, says  factional chairman

But the APC  factional chairman, Mr Henry Olatuja, said the indirect primary adopted by the party was against its constitution.

According to him, the insistence of the APC’s  National Caretaker Committee of the party  on  conducting  indirect primary in the state has further caused more crises in the party.

Olatuja said,  “We heard the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bell,  say the primary in Ondo State will be indirect, meaning it is a delegate election. As I am talking to you now, we have yet to have the list of delegates to use on Monday, even the contestants don’t have it.

However, the state Chairman of the party, Mr Ade Adetimehin, said there was no faction in the party and the was no case in the court .

S’West APC urges aspirants to focus on party’s victory in October

The South-West caucus of the APC on its part appealed to the 12 governorship aspirants to display maturity and harp more on issues that could unite the party, rather than those capable of causing unwarranted division.

The APC South-West Publicity Secretary, Karounwi Oladapo, in a release titled, “Press statement,”  urged the aspirants to look beyond the primaries to how the party would win the governorship election proper holding in October.

Oyedele steps down for Akeredolu

Few hours to the primary, an aspirant, Ife Oyedele on Sunday stepped down from the governorship race.

Speaking with journalists at the Government House, Akure, Oyedele, who is the Executive Director of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company of Nigeria , said he took the decision after the consultation with the national leaders of the party to work with  Akeredolu in the forthcoming election.

Meanwhile, less than 24 hours to the primary of party, the venue for the primary has been changed.

Initially, the primary was scheduled to hold in the 18 local government headquarters of the party in the state but it was gathered that the exercise would hold in three centers in Akure.

The party spokesman, Alex Kalejaiye,  confirmed the development.

National Assembly vehicles: Contractors petition Buhari, demand N875m, threaten suit

A group of contractors have petitioned the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), urging him to prevail on the National Assembly to pay them for the officials cars bought for lawmakers since 2017.

The contractors, 12 of them, are demanding payment of N875m within seven days with 21 per cent interest, failing which they would sue the leadership of the National Assembly.

The vehicles, which were bought by members of the 8th National Assembly, especially the House of Representatives, included Peugeot 508, 2017 model and Toyota Hilux pick-up vans, among others.

The 8th Assembly was led by Bukola Saraki  as the President of the Senate and Yakubu Dogara as the Speaker of the House.

The 9th Assembly is being led by Ahmed Lawan as President of the Senate and Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker of the House.

While the 8th House procured Peugeot 508 2017 model, the 9th House had ordered 400 units of Toyota Camry 2020 model. The Senate constantly acquires Toyota Sports Utility Vehicles.

The petition, filed by Roland Otaru, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, on behalf of the contractor, was dated July 17, 2020, with Reference Number OO/LIT/LAG/076/07/20, addressed to the President and copied to the Senate President, the Speaker of the House and the National Assembly Service Commission.

It was titled, ‘Re: Refusal of the National Assembly to Pay Our Clients Money Due and Payable to Them in Respect of Contracts Executed for the National Assembly Since 2017.’

The petition read in part, “It is as a result of your zero tolerance for corruption that we, on behalf of our clients, convey to you sir, the refusal of the National Assembly to pay our clients the various contract sums owed our clients despite the supply of various cars and office equipment to the National Assembly by our clients since 2017.

“On the instructions of our clients, we wrote letters of demand to the Clerk of the National Assembly and up till now, there is no any iota of response to our letters of demand.

“Sir, as our President who has zero tolerance for corruption, we have it on good authority that funds have been provided for the National Assembly by your government to pay all outstanding debts owed by the National Assembly, but the principal officers of the National Assembly chose to look the other way and have failed, refused and/or neglected to pay the debts owed our clients despite both oral and written demands.”

When contacted, Director of Public Affairs, at the National Assembly, Yahaya Danzaria, referred our correspondent to the Department of Finance and Accounts.

Also the Director of Information, National Assembly, Rawlings Agada, said, “Anything that has to do with services and concerning purchase by members of the Assembly, go to the Senate or House Committees on Services.”

A top official in the National Assembly management, however, told our correspondent that the parliament has three account heads – Senate account, House account and Management account. The official also stated that the Senate and House Services committees should speak on the matter.

When also contacted, the Chairman of the House Committee on House Service, Mr Wale Raji, said he was not the chairman of the committee, which made procurements in the 8th Assembly.

We are ready to reopen schools – South-West Governors

The six South-West states have signified readiness to reopen schools for pupils to sit for the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This was part of the resolutions reached by the state governments at the end of a virtual meeting initiated on Tuesday by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria otherwise called DAWN Commission in collaboration with the forum of South-West education commissioners, special advisers on education and the State Universal Basic Education Board chairmen.

The Federal Government had on July 8 reversed its earlier decision authorising schools’ reopening for Junior Secondary School 3 and Senior Secondary School 3 students, who are expected to participate in the Junior Secondary School Certificate and the Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations respectively.

According to the statement made available to journalists, on Wednesday, by the Director-General of the Commission, Seye Oyeleye, the statement read in parts, “The Forum, after careful deliberations, considering peculiarities of each state and options available reached a consensus on the subject matters and are expresses thus: On WAEC examinations; State Commissioners for Education have signified readiness to sit students for the 2019/2020 WAEC examinations.

“At the least, August 3rd, resumption for final year SSS3 students, states should approach the Federal Government at the first instance seeking the postponement of the WAEC exam by at least three weeks from proposed resumption. At the second instance states should directly approach WAEC to seek for an extension of the WAEC Examinations to week commencing August 24.

“All schools, when reopening should have in place incident managers and classroom wardens for every school and every classroom. The designation of the Quality Assurance Department for each state to issue a Safety Compliance Certificate to each school before reopening.”

The state governments also urged WAEC to encourage the administering the use of Computer-Based Tests while each state should deliberately intensify efforts and invest more in education technology.

RCCG Excommunicates Pastor Who Was Caught While Trying To Sleep With Member's Wife In Ondo

Gideon Bakare, a Pastor of a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Akure, Ondo state capital, has been excommunicated after being caught while trying to sleep with a member’s wife.

Recall the naked Pastor was seen in a viral video, begging the family of the lady after being caught red-handed in the act.

In a statement released by RCCG spokesperson Olaitan Olubiyi on Wednesday July 8, it was gathered that Bakare was suspended for attempting adultery. He was also accused of putting the church in a bad light.

The statement read;

“The Redeemed Christian Church of God has excommunicated Mr Gideon Bakare and relieved him of all ministerial duties in the Mission.

“Bakare, who was an Assistant Pastor in the Church was recently accused of attempted act of adultery with a woman in her matrimonial home in Akure, Ondo State.

“The Church dissociated itself from such immoral act of Mr Bakare and described it as being completely contrary to the core values, doctrines, beliefs and practices of the RCCG and the undiluted word of God.

“The Church, after reviewing the report of her investigation, noted that by his conduct, Bakare has not only tainted his personal reputation but has portrayed the Church in a bad light.

”Mr Bakare has therefore been directed to return all official items in his custody and stay off all associated connections with the Mission with immediate effect.”

INEC Releases Timetable For Ondo Governorship Election Primaries (Photos of the timetable)

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the calendar of congresses/primaries for the Ondo State 2020 Governorship Election.

The timetable which was released by the official twitter account of the INEC shows that All the 17 political parties seeking to field candidates for the Ondo State governorship election slated for October have settled for the indirect option as a mode of their primaries.

See pictures of the timetable below 

Ondo State Government Begins Recruitment of Healthcare Workers, aee details and apply

In a bid to improve the quality of Health Service delivery and increase health service utilization, the StateGovernor Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu SAN has approved the recruitment of Health Workers across all Cadres in the Primary Health Care facilities in Ondo State.

Consequently, the Ondo State Primary Health Care Development Agency wishes to invite applications from suitably qualified candidates to fill vacant positions in its Primary Health Care Facilities across the

18 LGAs of Ondo State.

VACANT POSITIONS

Medical Officers, 

Nurses,

Midwives,

Community Health Officers,

Community Health Extension Workers,

Medical Record Officers, 

Medical Record Technicians, 

Laboratory Technicians, 

Pharmacy Technicians,

Scientific Officers 

Nutritionists.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply for any of these positions, kindly visit https://www.ondosphcdb.com/recruitment

Note:

Applications are to be received not later than 5 days after the publication of this advertisement.

All applicants must be above 18 years and less than 45 years old.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Please note that the application is free..

Ondo uncovers N4.3bn kept in secret account for 10 years

N4.3bn which was kept in a secret account for more than 10 years has been uncovered by the Ondo state government.

Ondo Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo confirmed this in a statement released on Thursday, May 14.

He said the money which was uncovered due to the discrete financial intelligence of the Commissioner for Finance Mr. Wale Akinterinwa, was lodged in a third-generation bank without due process for over 10 years ago.

Ojogo said;

“We recall that at inception of this administration, concerted efforts were made to take a comprehensive inventory of all assets and liabilities of Government which include liquidity status.

“This exercise, modestly conducted without the usual noise, was aimed at avoiding sensationalization and needless acrimony. In this regard, all development partners of the Government, including Banks rendered highly commendable forms of assistance.

“It should be noted that neither the Finance Commissioner nor the Accountant-General was in his present position as at when the said account was opened more than ten years ago.

“The invitation of the Finance Commissioner by the House of Assembly and indeed, same extended to both the State Accountant-General and the Auditor-General are in line with Government’s desire to make as transparent as possible, the management of our commonwealth in Ondo State.”

The Commissioner for Finance Mr. Wale Akinterinwa who also confirmed this while appearing before lawmakers said the money has been ploughed into the revenue account of government. He also denied claims of a consultant being hired in the course of retrieving the N4.3bn.