Ondo guber: Akeredolu, Mimiko bicker over plots to shift poll

THE campaign organization of the All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, alleged that Governor Olusegun Mimiko was working surreptitiously to ensure a postponement of the poll.
In a statement by its Director of Communications, Soji Alakuro, the organisation said the APC candidate, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, is ready for the election and urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and security agencies not to succumb to the antics of the governor.
‘’We are aware of the untoward moves and pressures being mounted on INEC as well as friendly security heads in the state by Governor Mimiko on the need to postpone the forth-coming governorship election in the state. As a way of laying a false template for such, the Governor is plotting a three-day street wide protest in the state capital, Akure and other major towns in the state.
Gov Mimiko and Akeredolu, ACN candidate during the last guber election in Ondo State.
“This is planned to hold between November 23 and 25. Undoubtedly, this is a recipe for violence and the

Trump will get wake-up call when he takes office – Obama

President-elect Donald Trump is in for a quick wake-up call and will have to adjust his temperament when he confronts the realities of his new job on Jan. 20, President Barack Obama said on Monday.
In a news conference at the White House, Obama said the freewheeling Trump could not be as outspoken as he was during the long and bitter campaign that ended last week with the Republican’s surprise win over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Subdued and carefully choosing his words, Obama gave what appeared to be dispassionate advice to his successor free of much of the partisan rancour that marked the election campaign.
“This office has a way of waking you up,” Obama said. “Those aspects of his positions or predispositions that don’t match up with reality, he will find shaken up pretty quick because reality has a way of asserting itself.”
The two men met in the Oval Office last week to begin the transition of power. Obama said on Monday he

Buhari receives economic recovery strategy report

After many months of rigorous planning, President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, received the ambitious economic recovery strategy report prepared by his Economic Management Team, EMT, to steer the nation off recession.
The multi-prong strategy, which was prepared by the EMT, in collaboration with the Ministries of Budget and National Planning, Finance, the Presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria, is to enable the President appreciate the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP, before setting out to present it to Nigerians next month.
A top source, who is privy to the ERGP, confirmed that President Buhari received the document with a high level of appreciation to the EMT and would gladly make it public early next month.
It was gathered that the ERGP is hinged on five key sectors, namely, macroeconomic policy, economic diversification and growth drivers, competitiveness, social inclusion and jobs, and governance and other

Edo PDP, Ize Iyamu rule out involvement in Obaseki’s govt

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state monday ruled out the possibility of participating in the APC-led government of Godwin Obaseki.
Obaseki in his inaugural speech last Saturday, disclosed the possibility of his administration to extend a hand of fellowship to the opposition parties, remarking that after a hard-fought campaign, he was willing to gather ideas that have been articulated by all parties and integrate them for the transformation of Edo State.
But state PDP Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, at a press conference to x-ray the eights years administration of former governor, Adams Oshiomhole, said the party cannot be part and parcel of an administration whose tenure would terminate at the end of the state election petition tribunal.
Orbih who decried the huge debt profile legacy of Oshiomhole-led government, said the state currently rank the third highest indebted state in Nigeria.
He said not less than N1trillion accrued to the immediate past administration as federal statutory allocation

Saraki urges state assemblies to adopt amended procurement law

The Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has advised state Houses of Assembly in the 36 states to adopt the recently amended Public Procurement Act and enact it in order to help local manufacturers in their respective states.
Saraki who was addressing the first set of beneficiaries of the Skill acquisition Training and Empowerment Programme (STEP) initiated by him to empower youths in his home state, Kwara, said the adoption of the new Procurement Act in the states will ensure that state government agencies will join their federal counterparts in putting money in the pockets of citizens while helping to encourage the development of private initiatives among fellow country men and women.
Saraki called on the Speaker of Kwara State House of Assembly, Dr. Alli Ahmed, to take the message to his colleagues in other states on the need for legislators to focus on laws that can be enacted to help people out of the current economic recession.
“This is a challenging time for all of us and it requires ingenuity, creativity and thinking out of the box to come

Why I don’t visit US – Atiku

Former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has given explanations over his alleged avoidance of the United States over a purported corruption case for which he was said to be wanted.
Atiku denied that he was avoiding US any travel ban on him. He also faulted the widely held notion about him as a corrupt person, saying if he was corrupt, he would have been convicted by now.
In an interview published in the latest edition of Zero Tolerance Magazine, a publication of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Atiku said he “no longer has compelling reasons” to travel to US, as his family, who used to live there, had relocated.
“There is no travel restriction on me to the United States. After leaving office, I have been to the US severally to visit my family, which has eventually relocated,” he said.
Atiku, however, did not answer the question on when last he visited the US, insisting that the reason for his

Court cleared me of corruption charges cooked up by Obasanjo, El-Rufai, Ribadu – Atiku

The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has given himself a clean slate from corruption tag, saying that court has cleared him of the corruption allegations “cooked up” by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and gazetted by a government white paper during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
Atiku stated this in the interview granted to the editorial team of the EFCC, which was published in the latest edition of their in-house Magazine, “Zero Tolerance”.
He noted that he is one of the strongest advocate of the anti-corruption war, having pioneered the establishment of the major anti-graft agencies including the EFCC and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
He said: “Well, if Atiku Abubakar was corrupt, he would have been found guilty of corruption by all the panels and probes and cases that were brought before the courts.

AD finally accepts Oke as candidate for Ondo poll

The National Legal Adviser of the Alliance for Democracy, Kehinde Aworele, on Monday said that there was no crack in the party’s ranks.
Aworele stated this during the official presentation of flag to the governorship candidate of the party for the November 26 election in Ondo State, Chief Olusola Oke, in Akure.
He said that the initial rift in the party was a mere misunderstanding on issues of Oke’s candidacy, which according to him, has been resolved amicably.
He added that the court case involving the party with its candidate had been withdrawn.
Aworele said: “The virtue of being here with this mammoth crowd shows that there is no crack in AD.”
Also speaking, Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfehinwa, a National Leader of the party, said that the party would rescue the state from “13 years of wilderness” on November 26.