NEWS
2022: Oyetola re-election Campaign Council urges EFCC to investigate Adeleke, PDP over voters’ inducement
…warns opposition party against billboard vandalization
The reelection Campaign Council of the Osun governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has urged the anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ademola Adeleke, over his comment that he will induce voters before and during the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the State.
Governor Oyetola Campaign Council said it is pertinent to draw the attention of the anti-graft agency to the unguarded comment in order to challenge Adeleke and his party, the PDP, to explain what he meant by his comments that he had arrived with hard currencies to prosecute the election and to approach the election “fire for fire”.
Addressing a Press Conference, at the Ilerioluwa Campaign Office, the Director-General of the Osun APC Campaign Council, Senator Ajibola Basiru argued that for an individual to have declared publicly his uncontrolled and insatiable appetite for power to the extent of boasting to financially induce the electorate, he needed to be investigated and prosecuted by the anti-graft body to stop him from compromising the electoral process and fledgling democracy.
He called on the EFCC and other anti-graft agencies to beam their searchlight on the matter and summon the PDP candidate in the state for a thorough investigation and questioning to unravel what he meant that he has brought pounds, dollars, euros and other hard currencies to buy a vote.
“I expected the EFCC to have invited Senator Ademola Adeleke to give account of what he meant by coming to the state with hard currencies for the Osun State guber election.
“Certainly, inducement of voters is a great offence. So, for Senator Adeleke to manifestly declare an intention to induce voters, it warrants criminal investigation by EFCC.
“EFCC should summon him for investigation for questioning by what he meant that he has brought pounds, dollars, euros and other hard currencies to buy a vote.
“That clearly is a manifest intention to commit the offence of inducement of voters which is clearly an electoral offence under the Nigerian law”, Basiru added.
The APC Campaign Council sent a strong warning to the PDP and its candidate to desist from the campaign of acrimony that had degenerated into a violent attacks on the members and loyalists of the ruling party since Ademola Adeleke publicly declared his readiness to engage in a fire-for-fire approach.
Senator Basiru, who recalled some of the violent attacks on the party’s loyalists, said it has become imperative to intimate the general public with the clandestine move by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to kill, maim and harass leading figures in the Osun Government and the All Progressives Congress, APC, using political thugs, and then turn round to accuse the APC, its government and sympathisers as the brain behind the wicked act.
“You will recall that on Friday, May 16, 2022, the candidate of the party, Sen. Jackson Ademola Adeleke, at a rally in Osogbo, publicly proclaimed, among other things, that he had arrived with Pounds Sterling, Dollars and other hard currencies to bribe the good people of Osun in the days leading to the election and on the election day. He went further to say that this time around, he would unleash violence and terror on the State. He insisted that this time around, it is “Fire-for-Fire.”
“We promptly reacted by cautioning him and letting him know that Osun people are not commodities waiting to be purchased off the shelf of any supermarket. These exchanges are well documented by both the conventional and digital media. We had thought he would heed our advice to play by the rule and call off the demons he intended to unleash on our people. But alas, a leopard will never change its spot.
“Rather than heed our call, what followed was large-scale destruction of our campaign billboards and those of our candidate across the State, especially in the State capital. We have both the video and pictorial documentation of the large-scale destruction carried out by the PDP and its agents.
“In the early hours of June 9, 2022, we got an intelligence that a certain known political thug in the State, by the name Olamilekan Oyeyemi Ajagungbade, otherwise known as ‘Emir’, had been contracted by the PDP to carry out the destruction as part of the conditions to sign him on for further destructive operations in the State ahead of the elections.
“And by the next day, the destruction began. By Sunday, June 12, 2022, Emir moved to the PDP secretariat to dislodge another set of hoodlums that had been working for the PDP before his arrival. This led to a shootout between the two groups, as guns, machetes and other dangerous weapons were freely used. Again, we have video documentary evidence of what transpired. In the end, several other passers-by, including some visiting investigative journalists, who were in Osun for an assignment, fell victim of the attack”, he said.
Basiru who reiterated the commitment of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola to continue to maintain peace and sustain the status of Osun as the most peaceful State in Nigeria regardless of any form of security threat from any quarter, said, “For the avoidance of doubt, our candidate does not believe in violence and you journalists seated here this evening can attest to that fact.”
He stated further: “The Osun APC remains law-abiding, responsible, peace-loving and we will never resort to violence or engage in any act capable of disrupting the peace of the State, more so when it is obvious that the overwhelming majority of the people of Osun are with us and are ready to re-elect their Governor for a second term of office.
“Unlike the PDP, we have been preaching peace and conducting ourselves peacefully since the campaigns began, and this is what we shall continue to do till the day of the election and beyond. We shall remain law-abiding, responsible, and will never resort to violence or engage in any act capable of disrupting the peace of the State.
“Our candidate has proved in the last three and half years that he has the capacity to lead Osun. We shall campaign on what we have done, and they speak for themselves. Our candidate remains the candidate to beat come July 16, 2022.
“However, the PDP in Osun is reputed for thuggery and brigandage and have always exhibited violent tendencies even among themselves. They must be cautioned.”
An early-morning fire has ravaged Eda Plaza, a building materials market opposite Chida Hotel in Jabi, Abuja, destroying shops and goods reportedly worth millions of naira.
The inferno broke out around 3am on Sunday, leaving traders counting their losses after the fire spread through parts of the plaza.
An eyewitness told the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) that the alarm was raised after his brother-in-law, who owns two shops and a packing store at the plaza, received a distress call from a colleague informing him that the market was on fire.
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“We were at home this morning, as early as 3 am, and my brother-in-law received a call from one of his colleagues here in the plaza that the plaza was on fire. So we had to rush down there. On getting here, we discovered that the situation was so bad,” the eyewitness said.
According to him, only one of his brother-in-law’s two shops survived the inferno, while the other shop and the packing store were completely destroyed.
“In this plaza, my brother-in-law had two shops and a packing store. Unfortunately, only one of the shops was saved. The other shop and the packing store were totally damaged by the fire,” he added.
The eyewitness estimated the value of roofing materials lost in the blaze at more than N20 million, revealing that some of the affected materials had been restocked just hours before the fire.
“Over here, you see some of the roofs that we still have here. We are talking about a roof that is worth over N20 million lost in this fire,” he said.
He further lamented that some of the roofing materials had only been restocked the previous night.
“Because the other shop, we had roofs that were just restocked last night. And then the packing store also, we had roofs that were just restocked last night,” he said.
Confirming the incident, the National Public Relations Officer and Head of Corporate Services of the Federal Fire Service, Deputy Controller of Fire Paul Abraham, said a distress call about the Eda Plaza fire was received at 2:46am.
Abraham said the Federal Fire Service, in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory Fire Service, deployed firefighting appliances from its Wuse, Interior Ministry and Garki stations to battle the inferno.
He disclosed that a stop message was issued at 10:14am, indicating that the fire had been brought under control.
The Federal Fire Service spokesman added that investigations were ongoing to determine the remote and immediate causes of the fire.
Despite the extent of the destruction and the financial losses recorded, no casualty was reported.
The eyewitness expressed gratitude that the incident did not claim any life.
“In our situation, we give thanks to God that no life was lost in this situation,” he said.
The quest for increased oil production from the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42 has seen the Nestoil Group deploy its Pathfinder 500 rig to carry out workover operations on two producing wells.
The deployment, carried out through the Group’s strategic business unit, Scorpio Drilling International, marks the first productive assignment of the Pathfinder 500 since its acquisition about eight years ago.
The Pathfinder 500 is one of two rigs acquired by the Nestoil Group as part of a combined investment of approximately $28 million. The second rig is the Scorpio 300.
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According to a statement issued by the Group over the weekend, the Pathfinder 500 was successfully mobilised to the OML 42 site, where it completed workover operations on the two wells without any Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) incidents before being safely demobilised to base.
The statement added that the successful operation also contributed to incremental oil production from OML 42 and is expected to support the Group’s planned in-field drilling programme.
Chairman of Nestoil/Neconde Group, Dr. Ernest Obiejesi, described the development as a defining moment for the Group and Nigeria’s indigenous drilling capacity.
Obiejesi said the rig had remained idle for eight years amid doubts that it would ever be deployed for productive operations, making its successful mobilisation, incident-free workover campaign and safe demobilisation a significant achievement.
He explained that the decision to invest in the Pathfinder 500 and Scorpio 300 was driven by the need to reduce dependence on hired rigs, which could be difficult and costly to secure within Nigeria’s operating environment.
According to him, as an asset owner in OML 42, the Group requires reliable in-house drilling capacity to undertake workovers, revive mature wells and ultimately drill new wells as the field develops.
He said the successful deployment of the Pathfinder 500 now positions the Group to proceed with its planned in-field drilling programme.
Obiejesi further disclosed that the project, from rig refurbishment to crewing, was executed entirely by Nigerian personnel without foreign partnership or support.
He noted that the rig is currently operated by a 100 percent Nigerian crew, attributing the development to decades of capacity building by international oil companies operating in Nigeria.
The Nestoil chairman said the experience had helped position Nigeria as a net exporter of skilled drilling personnel to other oil-producing countries.
He commended the teams at Scorpio Drilling International and others involved in the rehabilitation and operation of the rig.
Obiejesi also said the achievement extends beyond Nestoil Group, noting that Scorpio Drilling International now has two operating rigs and is among companies with rig assets in Nigeria.
“Nestoil Group, through Neconde Energy, holds interests in OML 42 and continues to invest in indigenous drilling, workover and well-services infrastructure to sustain and increase oil production from the asset.
“Scorpio Drilling International operates the Pathfinder 500 and Scorpio 300 rigs and provides drilling services to the Group and third parties across Nigeria’s oil and gas industry,” the statement added.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu expresses deep sadness over the sudden death of Mr Dotun Oladipo, former Political Editor of The Punch newspaper and Publisher of The Eagle Online, describing his death as a painful loss to Nigeria’s media industry and the nation at large.
President Tinubu acknowledges the deceased’s contributions to journalism, particularly his years of dedicated service in political reporting and his commitment to providing Nigerians with credible information through both traditional and digital media platforms.
The President says Oladipo’s professional career reflected the important role journalists play in strengthening democracy by informing citizens, holding public officials accountable and providing platforms for robust public discourse.
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He recalls the deceased’s passion for his profession and his contributions to the growth of digital journalism through The Eagle Online, which he founded after his remarkable career at Punch Newspaper.
“Dotun Oladipo’s death at the age of 56 is a painful loss to the Nigerian media community and to our nation. He was a committed journalist who devoted significant years of his life to informing the public and contributing to the development of our democracy.
“His contributions to political journalism and the digital media space will not be forgotten. I extend my heartfelt condolences to his family, colleagues in GOCOP and friends. I pray that Almighty God will grant him eternal rest and give his loved ones the strength to bear this irreparable loss,” President Tinubu notes.
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