ONDO STATE Update

INTRIGUES, LAST MINUTE ALIGNMENT AS 11 ASPIRANTS CONTEST ONDO APC GOVERNORSHIP TICKET TODAY

* Aspirants, factions disagree over indirect primary
* Focus 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 are 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 there 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.

Credit: PUNCH

MORE PEOPLE WILL SOON LEAVE AKEREDOLU'S GOVERNMENT - ABEGUNDE, EX-ONDO SSG

The immediate past Secretary to the Ondo State Government and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state, Mr Sunday Abegunde, speaks to PETER DADA on why he resigned from the Governor Rotimi Akeredolu-led government recently, the forthcoming governorship primary of the APC, among other issues

** You just resigned your appointment as the SSG of Ondo State, there have been insinuations that you are defecting to the PDP. How true is that?

-- It is not true; I remain loyal to our party – the All Progressives Congress. I want to correct one thing: many people have been speculating that I am defecting to the PDP. I have never said so in the previous interviews I granted journalists. I am not defecting. I remain loyal to my party. Although I have resigned from Akeredolu’s government, it does not translate to defecting to the PDP.

** Since you are not leaving the APC, what is your next line of action?

-- As I have said, I remain a loyal member of the APC. At this time, in moving forward in my political career, I have made up my mind after consulting with my followers that we are going to pitch our tent with one of the aspirants who I believe will lift our state from where it is. I and my supporters across the state will begin to campaign for him. I pray that God will make him the next governor of Ondo State.

** Why do you prefer that aspirant?

-- He will not personalise the government like Akeredolu. Akeredolu has personalised the government and he thought it is a government for his own family alone. After all, it was not only him that won the election that brought him to power; all of us won the election for him. It was the steady and concerted efforts of loyal party stalwarts among whom I was prominent, that won the election for him in 2016. The aspirant is contesting for the third time. He is a technocrat, a businessman-cum-politician.

When he contested in 2012, the leaders prevailed on him to allow Akeredolu run for the election, and he agreed. That was when Asiwaju Bola Tinubu asked me to work with Akeredolu and I have been with Akeredolu since then. The aspirant contested again the second time in 2016 but I was consistently a friend of Akeredolu and his loyalist. I got to know through insinuations on social media that Asiwaju was supporting the aspirant; and I said (to myself) that if Asiwaju was supporting the aspirant, he should have called me to support him. Owing to my political inexperience then, I didn’t ask Asiwaju ( for direction) when I did not hear from him. That was the mistake I made.

** You think it is still a mistake?

-- But I can’t call it a mistake because if God wants to make somebody a governor, He will push people to him so that His (Lord’s) wish can manifest. At that time, people wanted me to leave Akeredolu but I said no. I told them I had not heard from our leader. I did not follow what I heard but I supported Akeredolu. What I am trying to say is that the aspirant lost the election with only 34 votes but did not defect from the APC. He has been a progressive, a knowledgeable person and what he did after he lost that election was that he went to a seminary school to learn about God.

** You had a cordial relationship with the governor at the beginning of this administration, why did you suddenly fall apart with him?

-- It was our party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, that introduced Akeredolu to me in 2012 as the candidate of our party, the then Action Congress of Nigeria. Since then, I have been working with him diligently. At the beginning of this administration, he appointed me as the SSG. But I later discovered that the welfare of the people of the state was deteriorating and he didn’t do anything about it.

This is of a serious concern to me. It is public knowledge that my office was ripped off a lot of responsibilities for reasons well known to the governor. Despite this, I would have stayed on if the governor had united our party and paid attention to the welfare of the people. I have tried to use my office and my personal relationship to appeal to Mr Governor to allow a human face in his administration but all to no avail.

How will I continue to serve under an administration where the great family of progressives have been short-changed? I can feel the suffering of the people. Unfortunately, it is disheartening that I have been incapacitated by Mr Governor as I could not do anything to salvage the situation. Akeredolu is a friend that I have but I have lost him. I lost him because power took him over and he could not manage power.

** Should the governorship primary of your party favour the governor, what will be your next decision? Will you work for him?

-- As a loyal party man if he wins the primary election, I will work for the party, not for him.

** You alleged that Akeredolu has personalised the government. You have been in his government for over three years, why did it take you this long to resign from the government?

-- You know that when you are in politics, you are not there alone. You know my antecedents, the people of my federal constituency (Akure North and the Akure South) voted for me twice as a member of the House of Representatives. So, what I am saying is that I do not take decisions alone. Because I have supporters across the state and I carry them along on my day-to-day political actions and decisions, I couldn’t have done it without them. It took us so long to decide and I believe it is the (best) time for me to quit his government.

** Did you at one point or the other sit him down to counsel him that what he was doing was not good?

-- I tried my best. There was a time I went to talk to the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, about the matter and I also went to talk to him (Akeredolu) too, in Owo. He didn’t listen. Since he did not change, I decided I would not continue to be his political ally again. Like I said, this decision at this time is the decision of my people, and not only mine.

** When you went to talk to him, what was his response? Did he say the welfare of the people and that of the party members did not matter?

-- I will not want to disclose what we discussed at the meeting.

** Did the national leadership of your party intervene in this matter?

-- You know the way politics works. The governor is ascribed as the party leader in the state. So, they would have expected him to manage the state very well; but you know that his (Akeredolu) management skill is very low. He has lost his deputy governor and he is now losing his SSG. He will still lose many people. Many people are still coming out of his government because he can’t manage the crisis. In a few days from now, you will see what will happen.

Credit: PUNCH

GOVERNOR AKEREDOLU VISITS AKURE EXPLOSION SITE, GIVES REPORT OF EVENT

In less than 9hours, Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN has visited the site of the Explosion that happened in Akure, the state capital for assessment.

The Governor gave report of the event via his twitter handle after he was briefed by the security chiefs.

In his tweets: "I have been briefed by the security chiefs that in the early hours of Saturday March 28th, a vehicle in a convoy transporting explosives to a storage facility in a neighbouring state developed a fault while in transit along the Akure Owo Road about 2km from the Akure Airport."

"Security personnel and other individuals transporting the ordinances noticed smoke from the vehicle. After several attempts to extinguish the resulting fire failed, the vehicle and its consignment ignited causing a massive explosion that was felt in Akure and its environs."

"Presently, efforts are being made to ascertain if there are casualties. Following my visit to the scene, I have directed that the area be cordoned off to allow the explosive ordinance department/bomb squad to extricate the vehicle buried underground because ...it is unclear if there are still explosives that are yet to be detonated . Everything is under control and I will be updating the public on any new developments."

Credit: ODSG

EXPLOSION ROCKS AKURE, 100 HOUSES, SCHOOLS, CHURCHES DESTROYED

No fewer than 100 residential buildings, school, churches were destroyed by an explosion suspected to be bomb blast in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Saturday morning

The blast which occurred in the early hours of Saturday cut off the ever-busy Akure /Owo road while many people were said to be injured.

The explosion which happened less than a kilometre to Akure Airport, affected many residents of Eleyowo community, destroying completely a church and a school in the area.

Many people who lived within the church premises were said to be injured while some were rescued by the people of the community. The school with boarding facilities was destroyed beyond repair with roofs of all the buildings blown off.

The spot at which the bomb or blast happened cut off the road, hindering vehicular movement.

DETAILS LATER........

Credit: TRIBUNE