Politics
Osun Govt Defends New Kings’ Appointment
The government of Osun State has stated that there was no violation of law and tradition over the appointment of new kings in the state.
This was contained in a statement on Saturday by the Hon Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, who declared that the appointments were in line with tradition and chieftaincy laws.
He dismissed allegations of misconduct, corruption and abuse of power, which he described as unfounded and baseless.
He said, “We call the public to recall that the present administration at its inception set up a number of committees to review the activities of the immediate past administration particularly towards the end of its tenure in response to the yearnings of the people of the State who felt some of the activities were detrimental to the progress of the State.
“One of such committees was the one that reviewed activities on Chieftaincy matters from July 16 to November 26 2022. The Committee held public sessions and received several petitions on which it wrote its report. A White Paper Drafting Committee reviewed the report of the Committee before it was further reviewed by the State Executive Council and a White Paper was issued.
“The White Paper touched upon several Chieftaincy matters handled by the immediate past administration towards the end of its tenure and gave succor to the people in line with their yearnings.
“Prominent among the Chieftaincy matters are the stools of Aree of Iree, Akirun of Ikirun and Owa of Igbajo.
“On the stool of Aree of Iree, it was discovered that the immediate past administration deliberately bypassed the town’s kingmakers and made use of warrant chiefs to select and approve an Oba for Iree. The White Paper therefore advised the Iree Kingmakers who were in court to protest the action of the immediate past administration to withdraw the suit with an assurance that they would be allowed to perform their traditional duty.
“In response, the Kingmakers’ lawyers presented necessary documents which indicated they were prepared and willing to withdraw their suit which would be filed once the courts which were on lockdown resumed. With this, preparations to re-fill the stool following due process began and after a keen contest, Prince Muritala Oyelakin was selected by the Iree Kingmakers and his appointment was duly ratified by the State Executive Council as the Aree of Iree.
“On the stool of Akirun of Ikirun, the White Paper stated that all contending parties should await the decision of the Court of Appeal on the suit filed by one of the ruling houses in Ikirun which was dissatisfied with the action of the immediate past administration on the Akirun stool.
“The White Paper stated that a fresh selection process would take place in Igbajo to enable all eligible princes from the Owa Oke Odo Ruling House participate in a free and fair selection in the interest of fair play, equity and in line with the custom and tradition of Igbajo.
“Consequently, a fresh selection process began and all interested princes from the eligible ruling house participated in the selection process. When it became expedient for the Igbajo Kingmakers to hold their selection meeting to appoint an Owa-elect, five surviving Kingmakers out of the six recognized by the Owa of Igbajo Chieftaincy Declaration deliberately refused to do so.
“After refusing to attend several meetings to which they were invited by the Local Council, Government had no other option than to invoke the provisions of Section 17 of the Chiefs Law of Osun State which permitted the revocation of the performance of any delegated function by any one and the appointment of other persons to perform such a delegated function.
“Thus, warrant kingmakers appointed according to law performed their duty and selected an Owa of Igbajo elect whose appointment is to be ratified by the State Executive Council.
“The Government has gone to this length to explain the course of action it took so that members of the public would be adequately informed and enlightened to understand that the actions were taken to correct the injustice perpetrated by the immediate past administration on some Chieftaincy stools towards the end of its tenure in office and in response to the yearning of the majority of the people of the affected communities who appeared before the committee set up by this administration and requested for fresh processes which would be free and fair and in line with the tradition and customs of their respective communities. This the Government has done.
“We therefore affirmed that as a government, we acted within the law and tradition as well as in the best interest of the people of the affected towns.”
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the outcome of the Ondo State governorship election, accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of electoral malpractice, including vote-buying and result manipulation.
This was disclosed during a meeting of the PDP Governors’ Forum on Saturday in Jos, Plateau State.
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The forum, chaired by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, criticized the conduct of the election, which saw APC’s Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa secure a landslide victory for another four-year term in Alagbaka, Akure.
“We are still reviewing documents from the Ondo election, where the APC openly bought votes and manipulated results,” Mohammed said.
He urged the judiciary to “save Nigerian democracy” and called on the National Assembly to strengthen electoral laws to prevent what he described as “institutional sabotage of the people’s will.”
The PDP governors also condemned the September governorship election in Edo State, describing it as a “rape of democracy.”
The forum accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of colluding with the APC to declare its candidate the winner despite claims that the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, had secured the majority of lawful votes.
“INEC blatantly manipulated the results in favor of the APC candidate. This undermines the credibility of our electoral process,” Mohammed said.
Beyond electoral grievances, the governors urged the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) to convene a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting by February 2025.
They emphasized the need for broader consultations with stakeholders to resolve the party’s internal leadership crisis and strengthen its position as the main opposition party.
The forum reiterated its commitment to democratic values and vowed to push for electoral reforms that would restore public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.
The Ondo governorship election has sparked a renewed call for transparency in the country’s electoral system, with the PDP vowing to challenge what it views as a subversion of democracy.
Following his observations that ‘the momentum was strong’ Matt Gaetz whom 47th POTUS elect, Donald Trump nominated for Attorney General has withdrawn.
Biztellers reports that this follows his meeting with Senate and the feedback, which included two women, represented by their attorneys, who accused him of having paid for sex.
Consequently, Gaetz placed on record his full commitment to seeing “that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history.”
His withdrawal according his statement on micro-blogging site, X, was based on his conviction that “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle”.
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In is view, “Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1”.
Gaetz wrote, “I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.
“I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history. I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”
His backers have promptly encouraged to take his seat in the House of Representatives, having been elected to the house under the flag of the Republicans to represent Florida.
The Executive Governors from Nigeria’s South West have unanimously nominated Senator Ademola Adeleke as the chairman of the zone on the National Economic Council (NEC).
Adeleke is the Executive Governor of Osun State, southwest, Nigeria.
This, according to the Spokesperson to Governor Adeleke, Olawale Rasheed, transpired on Thursday, at a meeting of the NEC.
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He noted that the meeting reviewed the state of Nigeria’s electricity sector and resolved to engage subnational structures to address current challenges in the sector.
“The meeting particularly sought to build on the devolution of the electricity sector and its movement into the concurrent legislative list which empowers state governments to regulate the sector in their respective areas,” he stated.
Consequently, the NEC, therefore set up an ad hoc committee to review actions in the sector by state governments and explore ways to ramp up activities through coordination, Rasheed highlighted.
The full list of members of NEC’s Ad-hoc Committee on National Electrification:
- Governor of Cross Rivers State, Bassey Out – Chairman, South-South
- Governor of Katsina State, Mallam Dikko Umaru Radda – Chairman, North-West
- Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya – Chairman, North-East
- Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke – Chairman, South-West
- Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma – Chairman, South-East
- Governor of Plateau State, Barr. Caleb Mutfwang – Chairman, North-Central
- Hon. Minister of Finance, Wale Edun
- Hon. Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu
- Special Adviser, NEC and Climate Change, Rukaiya El-Rufai
- Special Adviser, Power Minister, Hon. Bolaji Tunji
- MD/CEO Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu
- MD/CEO Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Jennifer Adighije
- Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum, AbdulRahman AbdulRazak
- NEC Secretariat
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