Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has accepted the resignation of the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, from his Government.
The resignation which was conveyed in a letter to the Governor, dated December 3, 2021, takes effect from Tuesday, December 7th.
Oyebanji is the first political appointee to resign after a deadline by the Governor last week that those interested in succeeding him should quit before 17th of December.
A statement on Monday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Yinka Oyebode, stated that Oyebanji had cited his decision to contest the forthcoming governorship election in the State for his resignation as Secretary to the State Government.
Governor Fayemi, in accepting Oyebanji’s resignation, thanked the former SSG for his remarkable contribution to the administration since inception in 2018 and wished him well in his future endeavours.
There are indications that other appointees including the Chief of Staff, commissioners and special advisers had rendered their letters of resignation and waiting for the Governor’s endorsement.
Mr Oyebanji gas been widely reported to be the annoited candidate of the Governor.
A gale of protest has trailed the gruesome murder of a seven-year old girl in Ekiti State, Monday night, just as the State Police Command confirm the arrest of the suspect.
The Association of Women Lawyers in Ekiti State staged a protest in Ado Ekiti to demand justice for the seven-year old Demilade Falade.
Demilade was kidnapped when she was sent on errand by her mother and butchered by the suspect, who ran away after the incident.
During the protest which took place in front of the office of the Wife of the Ekiti State Governor in Ado Ekiti, the women lawyers, who were joined by some other concerned women and relatives of the deceased, chanted songs and carried placards demanding justice for the slained teenager.
Speaking on behalf of the women lawyers, Mrs. Abimbola Ajaja expressed sadness over the incident saying the attack on girl child has continued to increase on daily bases despite all campaign against such.
She called on the Police to carry out credible investigation into the matter and ensure that all culprits pay for their sins.
According to her, the excuse that the suspect was insane was not tenable saying it was a decoy to set the killer free.
The State Police Command Spokesman, Mr Sunday Abutu, confirmed that the suspect was arrested at Adehun area in the State Capital, while trying to commit another crime.
The lady whose family claimed is insane was alleged to have murdered the teenager at Onala area and ran away on Monday night.
Eye witness account explained that the lady, who was arrested in Adehun area of Ado Ekiti while trying to commit another crime, was battered and dehumanized by irate mob.
Mr Abutu said that the police Patrol has been deployed to the area to restore normalcy.
There is palpable tension in Ojodu area of Lagos State following the killing of seven Secondary students of Ojodu Grammar School and some other students from another school within the axis. A trailer ran over the students, crushing them to death.
The driver of the trailer was said to have lost control and ran over the students who were patiently waiting at the Bus Stop to board a bus.
On seeing that their colleagues have been knocked down and crushed, the students of the aforementioned schools went berserk, in a revenge mission, took over the road, setting ablaze all trailers plying the route.
It took the intervention of the Police attached to the Station in Ojodu, with reinforcement of Police officers from the Area G Police Command.
The bodies of the students have been deposited at the mortuary, with others who were injured and were taken to a nearby hospital.
Two out of the five students of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos, suspected to have bullied and tortured 11-year old Sylvester Oromoni to death, are at large. They were not present when the Lagos State Police Command interrogated three of their mates.
Sylvester, who turned 12 years a couple of days after his death, allegedly mentioned the names of the suspects. They are, according to reports, *Michael Kashamu, a son of the late Senator Buruji Kashamu * Anselem Temile *Favour Benjamin *Edward Brown * Agboro Emmanuel.
The two alleged suspects who are at large, are strongly speculated to have been spirited out of the country by their families. One of them is alleged to be Master Kashamu.
However Kashamu’s family, in a statement, denied their son, Michael, had a hand in the alleged killing of Sylvester. They said Michael was Sylvester’s school father before he, Michael, was moved to another hostel.
The Lagos State Police Command which arrested three of the alleged suspects on Tuesday, say they are in custody, and confirm that two of them are at large.
Sylvester was, allegedly, attacked by the senior students when he refused to join them in their cult group. After beating him, they, allegedly, forced him to drink a liquid, which contents are unknown, but which his parents say, as shown by the X-ray on him before his death, damaged a couple of his organs. His lips were also blistered and bleeding badly.
However, the school Management, in a statement, signed by the Principal, Adebisi Laiwola, said Sylvester was injured while playing football with others.
His Death sparked justified outrage across the country.
In a swift reaction, the Lagos State Government ordered the indefinite closure of the school. The Police followed up by sealing it off.
More than 100,000 Nigerians have signed up asking for #JusticeforSylvester.
Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, whose subject Sylvester was, has vowed to see to the end of the tragedy and justice for Sylvester. And so has his Lagos State counterpart, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in whose State Sylvester was allegedly killed. Sanwo-Olu’s wife, Dr Joke Sanwo-Olu, described it as sad and outrageous. The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, called for the prosecution of the Principal and Hostel Master.
And, Sylvester’s devastated family has hired Femi Falana, SAN, to represent it in the case. In a letter to Lagos State Coroner, Falana requested for an inquest into the death of Sylvester. Reports say Falana and the Corono would meet on Wednesday in Epe, Lagos.
Meanwhile, the owner of Dowen College, Lami Phillips, a musician, and daughter of Dr. Olumide Philips, has not said a word since the incident. She is said to be too shocked, according to sources close to the family, to say a word.
In another development, the Parents’ Association of the school has demanded for a change in the Management of the school, the hostel masters and mistresses, and the installation of CCT Cameras. They will hold a candle night vigil in honour of Sylvester on Wednesday, December 8, 2021.
After an all night search by parents and neighbours in Ado Ekiti, the dead body of seven-year old Demilade Falade was discovered in a cooler in the house of a Pastor of one of the new generation Churches early Tuesday morning.
Already, the house of the man of God, located at Onala, Balemo area of the State Capital has been set ablaze by irate residents.
There are claims that Demilade was allegedly kidnapped and later murdered by a suspected lunatic, daughter of the Pastor, who is now on the run.
The girl who was sent on an errand by her mother to buy pap around 8.00pm on Monday did not return which prompted her mother to raise an alarm which attracted other neighbours.
It was gathered that a search party was organized throughout the night and checks were made in various houses all to no avail.
The house of the father of the lunatic was first spared from the all night search until early Tuesday morning when his wife, a nurse, returned from work and learnt about what happened previous day.
The wife of the Pastor was said to have raised an alarm which attracted security agents and relations of the deceased that had lost hope of seeing the deceased.
Late Demilade’s corpse was neatly packed inside a cooler while the blood stains had been washed with the Pastor claiming that she was murdered by his lunatic daughter.
The corpse was later removed while the Pastor, father and mother of the suspect were arrested and taken away by security agents.
Sources on the street explained that the deceased girl was a regular visitor to the house of the Pastor, where she used to play with some of her mates.
Nigerians in Diaspora under the aegis of Nigerians in Diaspora for Good Governance NIDGG, has lamented the terrible state of Nigerian roads nationwide, especially Federal Government roads. The group, has, therefore, called on the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to swing into action and urgently repair the roads.
The Group said the worrisome state of the roads have become a nightmare for the country, and has, also, become deathtraps and kidnappers’ haven.
In a statement by Wale Skoat, President of the Group, it said that if the Government had put in place good roads, the rate of kidnaping will reduce drastically, as no kidnaper will lay siege and stand on a free and smooth road.
Skoat lamented that the Government has neglected the needful and is chasing shadows rather than addressing the issue at hand.
“Nigerian roads are generally either in a state of disrepair, poorly maintained or altogether untarred.
“With Nigeria boasting of the largest road network in Africa, it is surprising that only about 60,000km out of its estimated 195,000km or road network is paved”, the Group pointed out.
NIDGG added that out of the many bad roads spread across the country, for example, Moro community in Kwara North Senatorial District, which bridge is at the verge of collapse, had been neglected.
The road was said to have been closed by the Federal Government, with the promise that repair work would commence in earnest. But the bridge is yet to receive any palliative or action from the Government.
The Group queried what the leaders are doing with the nation’s budget?
NIDGG also condemned the state of the Sango-Ota road that is yet to receive attention by the Government.
“For how long are we going to call them out before they do the needful for us in this country? Our leaders are capable of looting our treasury, but fail to fix our roads because of thier greed and selfish interest.
“Investigation revealed that the Federal Government has budgeted about N1.2 trillion for roads in five years, yet our roads are terribly bad. The two mentioned roads are not the only bad roads we have in this country it is everywhere”.
The Group which is a non profit organization, is aimed at correcting the anomalies and agitate for the Government to do the needful and cater for the welfare of Nigerians.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has extended the tenure of Caretaker Committees in Wards, Local Government and State Chapters of the Party in Anambra State.
This decision of the National Working Committee (NWC) in this regard, according to a statement signed by Kola Ologbodiyan, National Publicity Secretary, is in view of the urgent need to ensure proper structure in all organs of the party at all levels across the state.
In line with the provisions of the PDP constitution 2017 (as amended) the tenure of the caretaker committees has been extended for a period not exceeding 30 days to give stakeholders enough time for broader consultations on the Anambra state chapter of the party.
The PDP charges all leaders, critical stakeholders and members in Anambra to remain united and continue to work together in the interest of the party in the state.
In another development, the Supereme Court is to hear today, Tuesday, December 7, 2021, the case instituted against the PDP by its suspended National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus. The Apex Court adjourned the case from Monday, December 6, to the 7th because of the non representation of one of the respondents, Chief Orbih.
Secondus had gone to Court to challenge his removal from office before the end of his tenure in December, 2021.
The new National Executive Committee of the Party will be sworn-in in Abuja on Friday, December 10. If the case instituted against the Party by Secondus succeeds, it could overtun the otherwise successful National Convention which the party held to usher in the new NEC headed by Dr Iyorchia Ayu.
Strong indications emerged, on Monday, that President Muhamamdu Buhari has pitched his tent with the All Progressives’ Congress, APC governors on the Electoral Bill sent to him by the National Assembly.
Buhari, it was learnt, has decided to tow the path of the 19 APC governors who have been making serious effort to prevail on the president not to sign the amended Electoral Bill. If the president chose to listen to the governors on the issue, it will polarise the party and pit him against the pliant National Assembly, watchers of political events in the country said.
This suggestion has become even stronger with the comment, on Monday by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, that Buhari can choose not to sign the bill.
Adesina said Buhari’s “reputation as somebody who wants to leave clean elections for Nigeria has already been made whether the electoral act is signed or not. It doesn’t distract from that reputation.”
Many insist that Adesina’s comment, barely a week after Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state said the president will reject the bill, is a strong signal that Buhari will turn down his assent.
‘Adesina speaks for the president. Whatever he says represents the official position of the presidency, that cannot be taken with a pinch of salt. The rumour has mounted for days that president Buhari, based on the governors’ pressure will not sign the bill. What Adesina just said points to Aso rock’s position on the bill, no more no less,” an analyst said on Monday.
Speaking last week, the Rivers’ helmsman said there were clear signs that the president will refuse his assent.
According to Wike “He will not sign it. I’m very sure. The signs are there. This Nigeria, sometimes I wonder why we belabour ourselves on certain things. Look at it very well. If you work with a system, you must understand that system — the pattern.
“When that issue came out between the governors and the legislators, I just laughed and I told myself ‘why are you worried about this?’ The president will not sign it — it’s dead on arrival.
“They merely created that let there be a decision. They have now passed it on to INEC. When has INEC become Buhari that will say you can do this or you cannot do this — to choose which law is good or bad?
“What they are pushing is for INEC to come up and say ‘look, the cost implication will be this’. And then Buhari will now dwell on that and say ‘based on security implications or the cost of this, I will not do this’.
“Yes, the president has always said so many things; that he wants to leave a legacy for Nigeria. One of the legacies he wants to leave is to conduct a transparent election. In 2019, why did they not sign the electoral amendment that called for this electronic transmission? The same thing is going to happen. They have told him ‘your party will be affected; your party is gone’. I know the president will not sign”, Wike said.
Ahmad Lawan: Senate President
Since the Bill was sent to the president on November 19, there had been uncertainty on the president’s part, on whether he will object to the bill or not. This even becomes more so, as the APC governors were believed to be mounting serious pressure on him to reject the bill.
The issue became more interesting following reports that the president had consulted the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami’s, SAN and the Independent National Electoral Commission, to advise him on the matter.
Sources said INEC has replied the president that the thorny issue of direct primary will deepen democracy in the country, while Malami “has yet to send his advisory to the president because his opinion, as the chief law officer of the nation matters a lot, as the president will likely make his decision based of what Malami says ion the matter,’ a presidency source said.
The governors have been criticized by many because of the enormous influence they weigh when it comes to choosing candidates for their parties through the indirect election process where delegates are singlehandedly picked to choose candidates who will represent the party. This process, many believe allows the governors to bribe or bully delegates to vote for their candidates, which in most cases are not popular in their constituencies.
Therefore, the new bill, if eventually signed will whittle down such influence, political pundits say, because it will allow constituencies to select their candidates directly.
But the ways things are presently, the president is not likely to ditch the governors who have a strong hold on the party, and are prepared to do everything on their path to ensure that the president listen to them.
Ecobank Group has appointed Jubril Mobolaji Lawal as the managing director designate of Ecobank Nigeria, a subsidiary of the pan -African bank, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The managing director designate will also double as the regional director, the bank said in a statement on Monday, signed by Adenike Laoye group head, corporate communications, who said Lawal will take over from Patrick Akinwuntan’s who is retiring in January 2022.
According to the statement: “Mobolaji Lawal joins Ecobank having been a versatile senior banking executive and digital transformation specialist for over 28 years with Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. He has deep involvement and experience in digital and retail banking, corporate and commercial banking, credit risk management and corporate finance.
“His previous experience includes being Executive Director at GTBank Plc Nigeria, and Non-Executive Director roles at both GTBank Ghana Limited and Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems Plc.
“Mobolaji led the team that envisioned and implemented GTBank Plc’s retail and digital banking strategy to achieve industry-wide leadership over a ten-year period and he introduced new products and solutions that have helped to deepen payments and access to digital financial services in Nigeria.
Speaking on the appointment, Ade Ayeyemi, CEO, Ecobank Group chief executive, said the managing director designate will bring to his new role, a vast experience in the financial sector
Ayeyemi said “We welcome Mobolaji Lawal to the Ecobank Group, and we stand to benefit from the extensive experience that he has acquired in various fields across banking, which will play a major role in continuing to rebuild our franchise in Nigeria,” Ayeyemi said.
“Nigeria is a key market for us, in which we have seen significant improvement over the past three years as we reposition and leverage upon our pan-African strengths in digital products and services, payments and as the go-to-bank for businesses seeking to grasp the growth opportunities being created by the AfCFTA, across all our markets on the continent. I wish Mobolaji the best and assure him of both my support and that of the entire Ecobank Group.
The pan-African bank Group CEO has a kind word for the retiring managing director.
“We warmly congratulate Patrick as he prepares to retire having given over 25 years of solid contributions to Ecobank. His contributions to the Ecobank Group have been invaluable.
“On behalf of the entire Ecobank Group, I thank him for his years of commitment to the pan-African ideals of Ecobank, his loyalty, and hard work in the various positions he has held, most recently as Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria, where he has repositioned the franchise for growth. Patrick is leaving an indelible mark and will continue to be a cherished member of the Ecobank family,” he said.
Ondo state Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, on Monday rekindled the hope of Public Servants. He declared that he will not leave unpaid salaries for his successor after his eight years in office.
Governor Akeredolu said he had vowed not to owe workers’ salary since the inception of his administration, noting that the Covid-19 pandemic affected the finance of the state badly and hindered regular payment of salaries.
The Governor, who gave the assurance at the Ondo State Health Summit, in Akure said efforts were being made at the national level to address financial crisis affecting payment of salaries and meeting other obligations.
At present, workers in the state are being owed about six months salary arrears, Local Government workers are yet to be paid September till date while tertiary institutions are being owed months of salary arrears.
Opposition People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) had, last week, flayed the inability of Government to meet its obligations to workers, alluding that Christmas might be bleak for them.
Mr Akeredolu noted that his administration inherited seven months unpaid salaries, saying all salary arrears presently owed workers in the State would be paid.
“I am glad to inform you that we made giant strides in all of these areas. Unfortunately, COVID-19 pandemic came in the third year into our first term with its attendant economic crisis which has since put governments across the world in financial strait jackets.
“Notwithstanding the precarious situation we inherited in 2017, you will recall that we had settled six of the seven months arrears of salaries.
“We will, therefore, spare no effort in promptly attending to your welfare. The current issues relating to salary payment are receiving our attention even at the national level.
“We are working hard to ensure that our State is better funded and supported without delay in order to deliver on our constitutional responsibility to our people.
“We employed and have continued to employ qualified personnel for our primary, secondary and tertiary health care facilities.
“We equally brought in several containers of hospital equipment worth billions of naira from the United States.
“Again, we established Teaching Hospital Complexes in both Akure and Ondo city as well as the Contributory Health Insurance Commission among other achievements that are well known to most of our health sector practitioners in the State.
“It is trite knowledge that no government anywhere in the world can claim to have done or achieved it all, especially within the context of a changing world and within the perspective of the theme of this summit.
“It is for this and many other reasons that the decision to focus on the challenges facing our health care delivery system as a government is well thought out.”
Governor Akeredolu assured further that the administration would not vacillate in its determination to ensure that the people and residents of the State are duly vaccinated against the deadly virus.
“To this end, we shall continue to enforce the deadline already issued for everybody in this State to be vaccinated or forfeit the privileges from government such as entrance to public places and access to certain services, among others.”
