Author: Lekan Adeyeye

MR Lucky Aiyedatiwa was on Wednesday, December 27 sworn in as the new Governor of Ondo State by the Chief Judge, Justice Olusegun Odusola. This followed the death of his predecessor, Rotimi Akeredulu who died in the early hours of Wednesday. Before his Aiyedatiwa’s swearing-in at the Cocoa Conference Hall in the governor’s office in Akure, he was acting governor of the Sunshine State after Akeredolu transmitted power to him on December 13, 2023, as he embarked on a fresh medical trip overseas, the second in 2023. The new governor who took his oath of office at 5:18 pm promised…

THE Ondo State Government has declared a three-day period of mourning in honour of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu who died in the early hours of Wednesday, December 27, 2023. Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa also ordered national flags are to be flown at half-mast across the state. This was announced in a statement on Wednesday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ebenezer Adeniyan. “In a solemn declaration, the Governor of Ondo State, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, has announced a three-day period of State mourning in honour of the late Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN, CON, former Governor of Ondo State, who…

THE Acting Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has been sworn in as the governor of the Sunshine State. The swearing-in was held at the Cocoa Conference Hall in the governor’s office in Akure, the state capital and was administered by the chief judge, Justice Olusegun Odusola at 5:18 pm. Present to witness the swearing-in are other judges and top government officials, including the secretary to the state government and members of the state cabinet, the state All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman and members of the state house of assembly. His inauguration followed the death of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu earlier…

THE candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, on Wednesday, reported himself at the Police headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta, the state capital, over an alleged vote-buying allegation. He was accompanied by some of his aides and they were received by the state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, on the visit which lasted about an hour. Adebutu had been in the United Kingdom but returned to the country to honour a police invite over allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that he bought votes with pre-loaded cards during…

ONDO State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, is dead, News Point Nigeria has learnt. The governor, aged 67, died on Wednesday morning after a prolonged health battle. A top government source confirmed the unfortunate development to this newspaper. Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), ex-president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and ex-Attorney General of Ondo State, was a second-term governor before his death. The governor had to be flown abroad for treatment for his medical condition in June. He had returned to Nigeria in September after months overseas but stayed in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. As his health worsened,…

THREE inmates have escaped from the Ijebu Ode Correctional Centre in Ijebu Ode Local Government Area of Ogun State. The inmates scaled the fence and bolted away in the early hours of Saturday. The spokesman of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Ogun State Command, Victor Oyeleke, confirmed the incident on Tuesday. The inmates are Hammed Adeboyejo convicted of armed robbery and murder, Fatai Taiwo Akande from Ijebu-Igbo also said to have been convicted for murder as well as Aliu Oguntona sentenced for sexual offences allegedly escaped from the centre. “Yes, it is confirmed. It happened early hours of Saturday morning around…

POPULAR Nigerian actor and movie director cum producer, Azeez Ololade Ijaduade has reportedly been shot by a trigger-happy policeman in Iperu, Ogun State. He is currently battling for his life at the Babcock University Teaching Hospital. This was according to a midnight Instagram story from Ijaduade’s colleague, Abiodun Adebanjo, with the handle @iamabiodunadebanjo, seen by our correspondent. It was captioned: “Please we need help in Iperu. My director, Azeez Ijaduade, @kingzeez1, was shot by a Nigeria Police personnel. “He is presently at Babcock University Teaching Hospital. “Anybody with the contacts of the Police IG or Commissioner should reach out.” More…

TWO women have been reportedly killed during a fire outbreak at the Ogbomoso residence of a former governor of Oyo State, the late Adebayo Alao-Akala. The fire which occurred around 7am on Monday was said to have razed one of the old buildings within the compound of the former governor. A resident of the area, who spoke to News Point Nigeria on the telephone, said the fire service station in Ogbomoso came to the rescue to put the fire out but not before it claimed two. The resident also said that one person was taken to the hospital for treatment…

A HIGH Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja has issued an order freezing the accounts of the Oyo State Government in 10 commercial banks in the country. The order was issued by Justice Anitte Ebong in a ruling on a garnishee proceeding initiated by ex-council chiefs in Oyo State, sacked on May 29, 2019, by Governor Seyi Makinde, and who in 2021 got a N4.9bn judgement against Makinde and other officials and agencies of the state. The garnishee proceeding is intended by the ex-council chiefs, led by Bashorun Majeed Ajuwon, to recover the balance of N3.5bn which is outstanding…

ONDO State Acting Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has frozen the accounts of the 18 local government areas and 33 local council development areas, LCDAs. Reports also state that the acting governor told the newly created LCDA not to open new accounts. A letter to the local councils reads: “Distinguished HOLGAs, Your Excellency the Acting Governor of Ondo State had directed that all spending/ expenditure from local government account should be suspended. No signing of cheques, no change of signatories, no withdrawal of any sort until further directive. “Please adhere strictly to instruction and be guided.” One of the caretaker chairman told…

NO fewer than three persons were feared dead in a bloody bank robbery on Wednesday in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State. The robbers, who attacked Wema Bank and Access Bank in different locations in the community, were said to have operated freely. They were also said to have used dynamite to pull down the entrance doors of the two banks. It was gathered that some of the robbers, armed with guns, moved freely using motorcycles and a black vehicle in broad daylight while the attack lasted. It was also gathered that the robbers dropped some dynamites around the town and shot aimlessly…

THE Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Olamide Oladiji, on Wednesday, said he has received the letter from Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on transmitting power to the Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to become acting governor. He, however, said it takes a constitutional process in which he will instruct the Clerk of the House to convey his approval to the Secretary to the State Government. Oladiji added that he had informed the members of the House on the meeting with President Bola Tinubu and that they have approved the letter of the governor. According to the Speaker, there won’t be any…

ONDO State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, will commence his medical leave on Wednesday, as a follow-up to his medical treatment, his spokesman, Richard Olatunde, has said. In a statement on Tuesday, Olatunde said during Akeredolu’s absence, the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, will assume the responsibilities of the governor in acting capacity. Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), won his re-election as the state governor in October 2020 and was sworn in for a second term in office in February 2021. However, the governor’s second term, since January 2023, has not been…

THE Ondo State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr Razak Obe, has alleged that the signature of the state governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, was forged. Obe stated this in a letter he wrote to the state deputy governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, calling the attention of the latter to the development. The letter was made available to our correspondent on Friday. In the letter, Obe noted that after his discovery, the forensic expert had confirmed that the governor’s signature was forged. The letter read, “I write to call your attention to a critical matter that has been confirmed; the signature…

THE Court of Appeal Abuja has affirmed the April 27 decision of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, ordering the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde to pay the outstanding balance of 3.4 billion naira from the 4.9 billion naira debt, arising from a May 7, 2021, judgment of the Supreme Court. The 4.9 billion naira debt arose from the judgment of the Supreme Court given against Makinde, the state’s Attorney General, Accountant General and four others in favour of Chairmen and Councillors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but sacked on May 29, 2019, by the…

OGUN State Government has announced a N50m reward for anybody who could provide information leading to the arrest of the killers of Mr Taiwo Oyekanmi, the former Director of Finance and Administration attached to Governor Dapo Abiodun’s office, Oke-Mosan Abeokuta. 51-year-old Oyekanmi was killed last Wednesday, November 29 by gunmen at the Kuto Flyover Bridge in Abeokuta. The bounty was announced in a statement on Friday by the Secretary to the State Government, Tokunbo Talabi in Abeokuta, the state capital. It read, “The Ogun State Government has announced a reward of fifty (50) million naira for anyone with information that…

MINISTER of Power, Bayo Adelabu, has announced his intention to return to the All Progressives Congress. The minister, prelude to the 2023 governorship elections in Oyo State dumped the APC to contest on the platform of the Accord Party. However, in a letter dated December 6, and addressed to the state chairman and leaders of the party in Oyo State, Adelabu stated that he will officially announce his return at a ceremony to be held at the APC Secretariat in Oke Ado on December 15, 2023. The letter read in part, “I hereby write to notify the State Executive and…

A SENIOR Advocate of Nigeria, Kayode Ajulo, has alleged that some commissioners in the administration of the ailing Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, are forging his signature. Akeredolu has been recuperating in his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State, since he returned from a medical trip in Germany where he spent about three months. Ajulo, who is the Principal Partner of Kayode Ajulo & Co. Castle of Law, claimed that the deputy governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, cannot take over from the governor since power had not been transferred to him constitutionally. He said this enabled the cabals to hijack the state governance.…

SUSPECTED armed robbers have reportedly attacked students of the Gateway Polytechnic (ICT), Sapaade, Ogun State, killing one and shooting nine others. The fresh attack is coming barely a week after students protested the alleged robbery and rape of female students of the polytechnic by the hoodlums. It was gathered that students residing at the off-campus hotels located at Ode, Ipara and Isara, all adjoining communities to Sapaade, the host of the institution were mostly affected by the incident. Following the students’ protest last week on Tuesday, the management shut down the institution for three days to restore sanity to the…

AFTER months of bickering between the executive and legislative arms in Ondo State, the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, presided over a State Executive Council meeting in Akure, the state capital, on Thursday. The excos’ meeting occurred after months of political wrangling between the deputy governor and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s loyalists. The crisis was occasioned by the absence of the governor, who has been out of the state for months due to ill health. Last Friday, President Bola Tinubu summoned the warring factions to a meeting in Abuja where it was agreed that the deputy governor should continue to perform his…