“PDP will win Ondo elections without rigging” – Olusola Oke

Ahead of October 20, governorship election in Ondo State, the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP], Chief Olusola Oke today assured members of the party that PDP would win the poll without rigging.

Oke noted that the people of the state have now known the difference between the immediate past administration of the former Governor Olusegun Agagu and the present ruling Labour Party [LP]’s government.

According to Daily Post, an online news medium, the PDP Candidate said the people are agitating for a change in the state because they have been deceived by the Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s administration.

He stated this in Akure, the state capital, while addressing the crowd of the National PDP Youth Vanguard, of the state chapter and South West zone.

The PDP standard bearer said his experience as a public office holder and antecedents where he had the privilege of serving the people would be used in running the affairs of the state.

The former National Legal Adviser of PDP insisted that he would surely win the election because the people of the state know him and that his economic blueprint would earn him victory in the next election.

“By the grace of God and the support of the good people of Ondo state, I am the next governor of Ondo state.

“The people of Ondo state know me and my running mate, Honourable Saka Lawal. We have a unique economic agenda that is genuinely designed to give to the people of Ondo state solution to economic problems confronting the state due to improper management of the state resources. We must salvage this state together because of the younger generation. We are confident that our economic agenda will earn us the mandate of our people” he said.

He said the youths must support the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the votes of the people count in the October election.

According to him, all the politicians must also support any effort that would guarantee free and fair election.

Oke said it becomes necessary because of the desperate plots of the incumbent to rig the election.

In his address, the southwest coordinator of the National PDP Youth Vanguard, Comrade Dele Dumiye said the PDP candidate was a worthy ambassador of PDP, adding that his record as the national Legal Adviser of the party was worthy of emulation.

Dumiye described Oke as a top politician who has gathered a lot of experience that could add value to the state if elected.

Tinubu, ACN Governors Storm Ondo Mega Rally For Akeredolu

All is now set for the senatorial rally of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship Campaign as galaxy of leaders of the party, led by the National Chair, Chief Bisi Akande, National Leader of ACN Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Chief Segun Osoba, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Chief Lam Adesina and all Six ACN controlled States governors of the will storm the three senatorial district of the State.

The rally tagged, the Redemption Rally, will afford the leaders of the party to present the Candidate of the party Mr Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) to the people. The rallies will hold at Ikare Akoko in the North Senatorial District of the State on 2nd of October, Ondo in the Central Senatorial District on 3rd October and Ore in the South Senatorial District on 4th October.

Besides, the party leader will explain to the people of Ondo State in that area, why Ondo State should vote for ACN to join in the development train of regional integration going on in the South west. 

Also, ACN leaders will expose how Governor Olusegun Mimiko has allegedly shortchanged the people of Ondo State in the last three and a half years against the background of over N500 billion, he has budgeted for the state with nothing to show for it, having failed to inaugurate a single road in the last three years. The numerous abandoned projects include the Doom-dome, Ondo road dualisation, Owo road dualisation, Arakale road dualisation, Arigidi Tomato paste factory, Owena Multipurpose dam, Alpha D factory and a host of others.

The rally will be attended by the teeming supporters of the ACN across the Local Governments unlike Mimiko who mobilized people across the State with money to come to Labour Party rally in Owo, Ifon and Akure among others. ACN prides itself in ensuring the safety of its supporters and as such we insist that detractors and opposition steer clear of our events if their intent is to cause havoc or jeopardise ACN activites. Security arrangements have been put in place to check thugs and ensure peaceful conduct during our rallies.

ACN Raises Alarm Over Increase of Voters’ Numbers in Ondo INEC Register

The Akeredolu Campaign organisation (ACO) yesterday challenged the Independent Electoral Commission in Ondo State to explain to the good people of Ondo State how it came about 1,654,205 voters currently on parade by the electoral body.

In a statement signed by its Director of Media, Mr. Idowu Ajanaku, it was said that as of last registration in Ondo State in April, 2010, the total registration was 65,000 in Akoko North East.

It noted that it was worried over the alleged statement credited to the Ondo State INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Akin Orebiyi, during a stakeholders meeting at INEC office in Akure that there were names of voters whose photographs could not be found in the last elections but would be allowed to vote in the governorship poll.

According to the ACN political campaign “Orebiyi, 88 polling booths would be created to supplement the 135 existing ones in Akoko North East which Orebiyi claimed will be used by these voters whose photographs did not appear in the voters register”.

However ACO, wants to sound a note of warning to the Orebiyi led State INEC that Action Congress of Nigeria will not allow those whose photographs did not appear in the voters register to vote, as this is against the Constitution and the Electoral Act, saying that the creation of these sister’s polling booth is not necessary.

“To us, this could be capitalised upon by the drowning Labour Party to rig elections in the state. Is Orebiyi saying that the Mimiko led administration has succeeded in smuggling the result of their biometric registration exercise into the data base of INEC? Orebiyi himself confirmed that the electoral body only had fifty requests of Voter’s card transfer in the State.

“ACN will not allow the use of any illegal voter’s register in the State. ACN like other political parties in the State have the original list of voter’s register, and anything outside of that will not be accepted by ACN. INEC should keep to the rules, lest they cause chaos in the State”The statement declared

Akeredolu promises to build low cost housing units in Ondo State

Barrister Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) the governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has promised to build low cost housing units in the major towns of Ondo State to ease the accommodation problem confronting the people.

This is coming just as he pledged to open up rural roads with the construction of roads to enable farmers bring their products to the cities to sell.

Major towns which will benefit from the housing scheme reminiscence of the Late Adekunle Ajasin and that of Lateef Jakande of the second republic include Akure, Owo, Ondo, Ikare, Okitipupa, Idanre among others.

According to Akeredolu in a statement by his Director of Media, Publicity and Strategy, Idowu Ajanaku, said “These housing schemes will be in line with what Jakande did in Lagos in the 80s that helped in reducing accommodation problems in the State till today. I will replicate this unique housing scheme of Jakande in Ondo State, if elected by God’s grace. We have enough lands in Akure, Owo, Ikare, ondo and others. And these places are very close to Akure, people can live there and drive to Akure with good roads daily to work. It does not need to be built like mansions but moderate affordable for our people majority of who are Civil servants and low/medium scale business men. 

If Jakande can do it at that time, Ondo State which is the only oil producing State in the South west can do it now”.

He noted that the houses will be built through cost effective means with good materials and modern technology available in this generation. Akeredolu stated that Civil servants will be given priority in the scheme. This he insisted has become necessary, if those who are serving the people have accommodation that they can rest their heads when they retire from service it will not only make them to work hard but will reduce corruption and fear of the unknown future.

The former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) lamented the neglect of the sector by Governor Olusegun Mimiko saying that “I am not surprise that despite the resources at his disposal he could not build a single road, talkless of housing estate”

The mounting youth unemployment has also become a source of concern that is why he has put machinery in place to create 30,000 jobs within 100 days in office to take Ondo State youth out of the streets.

Another Crisis Looms At Adeyemi College, Ondo...Over Expulsion of 300 Students

By Our Reporters

THE PALPABLE tension that has pervaded Adeyemi college of Education, Ondo since the recent students’ crisis may not abate soon, as the college management has expelled no fewer than 300 students that were linked to the riot.

The latest action of the college management was contained in newspaper advertisements, which it sponsored, on the pretext that the affected students have performed poorly in their academics at their various departments.

Prof.Ruqquayat Ahmed-Rufai (Minister of Education)

 

Some of the affected students who spoke with PLATFORM NEWSWIRE recently however said, contrary to the allegation of poor academic performances, they (students) were expelled from the institution on mere suspicion of their involvement in the recent violent protest that led to the closure of the college.

The students, who prefer to remain anonymous, stated that the Provost of the college, Professor Adeyemi Idowu should be removed by the federal government for failing in his responsibility to provide good leadership since he assumed office.

They said the Provost has the penchant for being too bureaucratic on matters relating to students’ welfare, even as they said he does not even bother to know the problems they are facing in their various halls of residence and departments.

Some of the affected students said they only see Professor Adeyemi Idowu whenever he is inside his official car, and that, unlike some former provosts of the college who usually pay regular visits to where students are domiciled, Idowu always display arrogance and prefer to stay put in his office and await information about student matters from third parties, as well as his cronies.

“Why must Professor Idowu see himself as a tin god when he is just a college provost? What will happen if the college becomes a University and he Idowu becomes the Vice Chancellor? He is a total failure as far as human relation is concerned,” one of the aggrieved students said angrily.

It would be recalled that Adeyemi College was engulfed in a violent crisis that led to its closure on 14 May, this year, after students accused the management of nonchalant attitude in regard to their welfare, especially, on health matters.

In a related development, parents of majority of the expelled students of the college are getting set to drag the college management to court for allegedly witch-hunting their children over the recent crisis that engulfed the college.

Some of the parents who spoke with the paper said they have hired a team of lawyers; to be led by a popular Lagos based Senior Advocate of Nigeria. The parents, apart from seeking for an order to make the college management reverse itself on the expulsion of the affected students, would also be seeking for billions of naira as compensation for the embarrassment caused the  students and their parents by the college management.

Efforts by our reporter to speak with the Provost proved abortive as he was said to have travelled out of town, but an impeccable source at his office told this paper that the college management did not witch-hunt any student in the recent expulsion exercise, adding that the affected students indeed had poor academic records that warranted their being shown the way out.

At the time of filing this report, there were indications that the Adeyemi college management is compiling the list of the next batch of students to be expelled from the college, in continuation of its desire to purge the institution of perceived bad eggs.